Broken Yet Whole
by Zana Moon
Summary: [FMAxKH] Sora and co. crash land on a strange new world. After getting their ship repaired, they take off again, but two suspicious alchemists stow away and go along for the ride...
1. Are We Dead Yet? :Intro:

**Broken Yet Whole**

(Title pending)

_A Kingom Hearts 2 and Fullmetal Alchemist crossover._

**A/N:** I'm writing this for a contest, so reviews on what you think about it and how I'm doing would be very much appriecated! It's a crossover contest, so I chose to use my favorite video game with my favorite manga and this is the result. I'm still working on it, a little bit at a time, so chapter updates won't be regular. It will, however, be finished by the end of the month, since that's the deadline! This chapter is rather short, so I'm calling it an intro as my excuse. xD Anyhoo, enough yapping from me. Read and review please!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts nor Fullmetal Alchemist. They own me.

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**1 Are We Dead Yet? Intro**

There was a flash of multicolored lights, an ear-splitting crack, and then the gummi ship began to tip dangerously to one side.

_Great_, thought Sora, reading the warning sign that flashed on the control pannel, _There goes the left wing._

"Oh grawsh!" exclaimed Goofy, in his hillbilly-ish drawal. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Explode?" Donald suggested, panic seeping into his raspy voice.

With the way things were going, they couldn't rule out exploding. It was a very near possibility. Under the fire of countless Heartless _and_ Nobody ships, the trio was big trouble. The sheild generators were down, they were running low on ammo, and the power core was busted after a direct hit. That, and now they only had half of the left wing.

"You'll have to make a crash landing!" shouted a squeaky voice, coming from the monitor. Two chipmunks in aprons appeared on screen, jumping around worriedly and squeaking out rushed instructions. "Find someplace to land! And hurry!"

"There is no place to land!" Sora shouted, starting to freak out. And he had every right to freak out. He was going to be blown to smitterens any mintue now. There wasn't any world on their radar that they could crash land on. The ambush had driven them off track, out to the boondocks of space, and there wasn't _anything _out there as far Sora could tell.

"Keep flying then!" piped Chip. Or maybe Dale. "Something's bound to come up eventually!"

"We don't have enough time for 'eventually!" Donald yelled at the screen, flapping his wings around in a frenzy. The ship took another hit, causing the cock pit to rattle and rumble, as well as knock Donald over. He yelled again, but no one could really make out what he said, since the ship's sirens were going off like crazy, warning the crew of the danger. Like they weren't already aware.

"Oooooh, we're goners!" Goofy wailed. "Sora, Donald, I want ya to know that you're the best pals anyone could ask for. Chip, Dale, if ya see the King, tell 'im I said I'm sorry. Give my armor and stuff to--"

"Goofy, I hate to interupt your touching good-bye speech," said Sora, "But you might want to save it for later. Look!" He pointed at something ahead of them.

"Yahoo!" he cried, "We're saved!"

Donald raised his head up from the floor and blinked. "Huh? What? What's going on? Are we dead yet?"

"No, look!" Sora said excitedly, lifting the duck from the floor and pressing his face up to the window. Donald grinned, then wiggled out of Sora's arms.

"Well, whaddya waiting for then? Land us already!" he commanded, and Sora was more than happy to oblige.

"Take her down slowly," one of the chipmunks advised. "Try to find a wide open area! And don't forget to--"

Whatever it was he wanted them not to forget, the trio would never know, for the monitor suddenly went fuzzy. Nevertheless, they manage to lose the swarm of attackers and land safely.

Only _where_ did they manage to land safely..?

**--TBC--**

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**A/N:** Yes, I know, no FMA in this chapter. But don't be sad. Next chapter is going to be chalk full of FMA. NOW REVIEW! -grin- Zana, out! 


	2. Operation: Fix the Ship!

**A/N: **Yes, another short chapter. Like I said before, it's bits and pieces. And I have a word limit, so overall, the story won't be too long. Which may or may not be a good thing. -shrug- At least I'm updating quickly, right:D

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**(2) Operation: Fix the Ship!**

The teenaged boy and his two anthro companions walked around outside their vessel, making a metal check list of everything that needed to be reapaired. So far, the list went like this:

_Left wing._

_Power core._

_Sheild Generators._

_Monitor._

_Body._

_Cockpit glass._

_Front cannon._

_Engine..._

Eventually, however, the friends decided it would be easier to remember what needed to be fixed if they just shortened the list. So they did. The new list went like this:

_Everything._

Now that that was out of the way, they needed to get down to business.

"Do we have any tools?" asked Sora, who was taking charge of Operation: Fix the Ship.

"Um," Goofy scatched his head. "I don't think so."

"Bah, who needs tools when we got this?" Donald said, waving his Magnus Staff at them.

Sora blinked. "Uh, Donald, your magic is mainly offensive spells, isn't it? I don't think that's going to help fix the ship," he stopped in surprise to watch Donald go over to gummi ship and proceed to bang on it with his staff. "Oh. Well, uh, I don't think that's going to help either."

"Of course it's helping," Donald rasped, giving it another bang. The metal resounded with a loud clank, making the others wince. "I feel better already!"

"Oh, Donald, you're gonna break it up even more!" Goofy snatched the wizard's staff away before he could hit it again. Donald attempted to get it back, but Goofy used his height to his advantage and held it above his head, making Donald jump in for it. But Donald soon realized this was futile, so he plopped onto the ground and sighed. Satisfied, Goofy returned the staff.

"Well, what are we going to do? We can't get off this world until we get the ship fixed!"

"I don't know, Donald," Sora replied, sitting down next to him and resting his chin on his knees. "What world is this anyway? I don't think we've ever been here before. There aren't any Heartless around either."

Their crash site was ontop a hill, green, grassy, and plain. Sereval other similar hills surrounded them, along with a few trees here and there. The sun was high in the sky, indicating that it was probably the late afternoon. A dirt road trailed around the bottom of their hill, stretching on ahead to what looked to be a small town off in the distance.

Goofy pointed towards the town. "Maybe we should go there," he said, "And find out where we are. We can see if there's a repairman there too, and get 'im to fix our ship!"

"Sounds like a plan," Sora said, jumping up off the ground. He gazed at the collection of buildings sitting on the horizon and grinned. A new world. This was going to be exciting, he just knew it.

"Let's go!"

--------

"Now you listen up, Ed! I worked very hard on this new piece of automail for you, so this time, try not to break it right away! Understood? Good. I'm charging you five thousand sens, by the way."

Edward Elric suddenly found himself paying attention to what his mechanic was saying. "What! _Five thousand sens?_ For one lousy upgrade!"

Winry looked thoughtful. "Yeah," she said, "Nevermind what I said before. Go ahead and break up your arm as much as you want. You're making me rich!"

"Geez, Winry," Ed moaned as he reluctantly forked over the dough, "And I thought you were my friend!"

"I am, but right now, I need money more than I need friends," Winry said, grinning ear to ear. "Besides, you guys are loaded anyway. You can afford it."

"Not at this rate!"

"Well, who's fault is that? If you two were more careful, and didn't get into so much trouble all the time, you wouldn't need to get your arm repaired every other week! I keep telling you to--"

"I know you keep telling me," Ed shouted. "You're always getting on my case!"

"Well, sorr-rey for caring, Ed! Ooh, the nerve of me, being worried about my friends!" Winry rolled her eyes.

"You don't worry, you nag!" Ed accused.

Winry opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off when a gaint suit of armor peeked its head through the door. "Sorry to interupt," said Alphonse Elric, "But Winry, you have some...customers, I think. Only, they're really strange looking and--"

"Paying customers!" Winry shouted, eyes lit up with joy and brain completely ignoring whatever else Al was trying to tell her. She was sure it wasn't important. All that mattered was that she had _paying customers._ Besides the Elric Brothers, Winry Rockbell didn't get a lot of business in her tiny town. It was almost cause for a celebration! She left her agruement with Ed unfinished (it no longer was of importance either) and pushed past Al so she could hurry to the door. Paying customers!

"She gives me a migraine," Ed complained. Al stepped into the room and sat on the wooden bench across from Ed. Winry wouldn't listen, but Ed most certainly would.

"Brother, the people at the front door...they're weird!"

"Says the empty suit of armor," Ed joked. Okay. So maybe he wouldn't listen.

"Brother, seriously! They're not normal! Well, the boy might be, but he's wearing strange clothes. And the other two...they're definitely not human. I think _alchemy _must be involved."

Al said the key word. Ed was listening now, very intently.

"What do you mean, not human?" he asked his little brother.

"Exactly that. They're not human. They look more like animals trying to be human. One looks like a dog and the other one is some kind of bird. But they both stand on two legs, and wear clothes, and talk. They talk human."

Ed normally wouldn't buy this sort of thing, but he could tell Al wasn't pulling his leg. Thinking about it, it sounded like something he knew, but a few things didn't fit. Standing on two legs, wearing clothes?

"Are they chimeras?" he wondered aloud.

"That's the only logical explaination," Al said. "But they'd have to be extremely advanced chimeras. Their speech is as good as anyone's and they seem to be just as intelligent. They have animal appearances but not animals behaviors."

"But that can't be possible," Ed mumbled, frowning in concentration. Chimeras were rarely sucessful. And the ones that did survive weren't anything like what Al just described. Unless...

"Brother, what if it's just like what happened with Nina?" Al ventured tentantively.

"That's exactly what I was thinking, Al," Ed jumped up from his chair and grabbed his jacket. This sounded fishy. Something was up, he knew it. "Come on," he said, "Let's go check this out!"

**--TBC--**

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**A/N: **FMA fanatics, quick question: I spelled 'chimera' correctly, right? >>; Heh heh, just making sure. Much love to those who review and correct my spelling mistakes for me! xD 


	3. The Fullmetal Alchemist is Always Right

**(3) The Fullmetal Alchemist is Always Right**

A pale hand reached out and flicked the side of the gummi ship. A chunk of it fell off in return. The person, whoever it was, scoffed.

"Well, this was certianly unexpected," said the figure. "A crash landing. And here, of all places..."

The figure circled the ship, then looked at the surrounding hills. No one was there.

"Huh. Must have went for help," the figure mused aloud. "Whatever. I'm not going after them. This is the last place I wanna be at right now. I'll give my report to the Idiot and he can go after them himself. It's his job, not mine..."

Grumbling, the figure raised an arm and a dark dot appeared in front of it. The dot quickly grew and swirled, becoming oval shaped. Suddenly, a black portal formed before the figure, its depths showing nothing but pure darkness.

"I can't wait for all of this to be over," sighed the figure, stepping into the darkness. The portal swirled once more, then disappeared once the figure stepped past, leaving no trace of ever having been there. However, the figure's voice still echoed throughout the hills: "I can't wait to be whole again."

--------

"Hi. We were told that we'd find a mechanic here. A Winry Rockbell..?"

"Yup. That's me," Winry grinned at the black clothed, spiky haired boy standing in her doorway. "What can I do for you?"

"Fix our ship, please!"

Not only was the voice unexpected, it was scratchy-sounding. Winry looked down. And nearly fell over at the sight of a talking duck, clad in a blue hat and jacket, and giving her an impatient look.

She didn't have time to fall over, however, because a tall, dog-like person suddenly appeared in the doorway as well and starting pumping her arm. "Nice to meetcha, ma'am!" greeted the thing, "I'm Goofy!"

"I can tell," Winry muttered under breath. She was trying not to stare at the newcomers. The boy was around her age, with brown, spiky hair and startling blue eyes. Other than his strange clothes, though, he seemed normal enough. But the animal-people...she didn't know what to think!

_Well_, she thought,_ their clothes have a lot of zippers on them. Maybe they're wearing costumes? Or maybe...maybe it's some sort of alchemy-thing?_

Whatever the reason, it still was not polite to stare. So Winry smiled and tried to act like nothing was wrong with this picture.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Goofy and..." she looked at the others questionably.

"I'm Sora," supplied the boy, "And this is Donald." He pointed to the duck-person.

"Hello Sora, Donald, and Goofy," said Winry, nodding to each one respectively, making sure she got it right. "Why don't you all come inside and tell me again about what you needed fixed?"

They agreed and Winry led them into the kitchen, letting them pull up a chair around the table and offering them drinks. All the while, she kept thinking about how weird they were. _Granny sure picked the wrong day to go grocery shopping_, she thought to herself,_ Boy is she missing out!_

--------

Ed and Al stood quietly outside the kitchen, pressed flat against the wall and listening in on the conversation.

"So you're foreignors, huh?" they heard Winry say. "Where ya from?"

"Um, the west?" answered one of them. "It's, uh, really far away."

"And we can't get back there 'til our ship is fixed up!" someone else injected. "D'ya think you help us out?"

"Well, I'm more of an automail mechanic, but sure, I can take a look at your ship. Repairs are gonna cost ya, though. You do have money, right?"

"Oh yeah. We gots loads of munny!"

"Great," said Winry. They heard a chair slide, followed by footsteps. "Let me go grab my toolbox real quick and then you can show me where your ship's anchored at."

The brothers scrambled to get out of the way, but they weren't fast enoguh. Winry spotted them. She raised an eye brow and gave them her 'why-are-you-acting-stupid?' look.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked them, her hands on her hips.

"Shh!" Ed whispered at her, a finger held to his lips. "You're gonna blow our cover!"

"What cover?" she asked, causing Ed to realize that they were now standing right in front of the open doorway of the kitchen. The brown-haired kid saw him and waved. Grabbing Al, Ed jerked them back behind the wall, out of sight again.

"Okay, I know they're weird looking," said Winry, "But please, do not go in there and start trouble! They're nice people. And they have _money_. So leave them alone. I'm warning you. Don't scare off my paying customers unless you want an early death!"

It definitely didn't sound like an empty threat. With a gulp, both Elrics nodded their heads to show that they understood. Winry could be scary sometimes. They've been up against serial killers, plotting politicans, homuncli, and alchemy gone awry, but all of it seemed insignificant under the glare of an angry Winry. At least there weren't any wrenches laying around in the nearby vincinity, much to the Elrics' relief.

Of course, no matter how scary Winry was, Edward was twice as stubborn. Once she headed up the stairs to her room, the feeling of impending doom vanished and Ed entered the kitchen. Al was more reluctant to disobey, but not wanting to be left behind, he followed after his older brother. Besides, this would be interesting.

--------

"Hey, look! It's that big fella from before, who answered the door!"

"Uh, yeah," said the big fella. "Hi. I'm Al."

"And I'm his brother, Ed. The _older_ brother," Ed made sure to stress. (It was amazing how people were always getting that wrong.) The boy at the table opened his mouth, but Ed cut him off. "And you three are Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Yeah, yeah, we heard, blah, blah, blah. Look, let's just cut to the chase." Ed walked over to the table and grabbed a chair across from Sora. He spun it around so that it was backwards, plopped down in it, and leaned forward on the table with his arms folded under him. There was a strong look of determination about him.

"You're an alchemist, aren't you?" he asked, his question directed at Sora, who blinked in response.

"Umm..no. Or I don't think so," he looked at his friends for help. _"What's an alchemist?"_ he whispered, although everyone in the room heard him.

"Um," said Donald, then he whispered back, _"Someone who mixes potions and materials!"_

"Oh! You mean like a moogle?"

"Ahh, sort of. Something like that, I think."

Ed gritted his teeth, and his left eye started to twitch. "Arg, stop playing dumb already!" he shouted, "I know you're alchemist! And I know that you used humans to make those two illegal chimeras!" He was standing up now, pointing an accusing finger at Sora.

"What?" Sora looked shell-shocked. "I did not! I don't even know what you're talking about!" He too was now out of his chair.

"Those two!" Ed shouted, moving his pointing finger to Goofy and Donald. "Those chimeras are too advanced to be normal! You combined a human with an animal to make them, didn't you?"

"Hey!" yelled an offended Donald, jumping out of his chair to get in the fray as well. "Don't call us names!"

"Yeah," Goofy agreed, but without raising his voice and staying in his seat. "And what's all this nonsense you're sprouting? Sora didn't make us. Me and Donald were born this way."

Edward's upcoming retort got stuck in his throat and his mouth hung open. _Born that way! _But that was impossible! It's not like it was some disfigurement or anything. They looked entirely like an animal, just in a slightly humanoid way. No one was disfigured _that _much. It was too unnatural.

"Exactly!" said Sora, folding his arms across his chest and looking smug. "I'm not an alchemist and my friends aren't...whatever it was you called them. So stop making judgements about people you'll hardly know!"

"Grr...I'll make whatever judgements I want!" Ed burst out, feeling a mixture of annoyance and confusion. He had to be right. He was _always _right. (In his mind.) That kid was lying. He was an alchemist, and those were his chimeras, obviously brainwashed into thinking they were normal...

"Ha! You can't fool me!" he assured them, rather loudly, "I amthe Fullmetal Alchemist, and I'm never wrong when it comes to alchemy. I'll get to the bottom of this, just you wait! I'll--"

"Er, brother..."

Ed whisked around to give Al an annoyed look, miffed that his monologue was cut so short. His brother, who was still hovering in the doorway, frantically nodded his head to the right. Ed's eyes flickered over from Al...to Winry. Suddenly, the blood drained from his face. Not only was she carrying a wrench, but a whole toolbox full of hammers, screwdrivers, and other heavy, metal projectile objects.

'Edward," she practically growled. "I warned you..."

There were panicked foot-steps, a clank, a whoosh, a shout of pain...and then someone exclaimed, "Wow, that girl's got some arm! A direct hit from all the way across the room!"

--------

Ed held a bag of ice to his forehead as he dragged behind the others, who were cheerfully chatting amoungst themselves as they headed to the crash site. Winry was fully against Ed coming with them, still upset that he "attacked" the newcomers after she specifically told him not to. Yet surprisingly, Sora had been forgiving. He told Winry that it wasn't any big deal, and that he didn't mind Ed coming along...as long as Ed apologized first.

That proved to be a problem. Edward flat out refused to do such a thing. But...he so wanted to see this ship of theirs'. And he wanted to find out more about the usual trio, so that he could gather evidence to prove just how right he was. In order to do this, he was left with no choice but to apologize.

Ed made sure to cross his fingers behind his back while doing so.

A blinding amount of green was up ahead, Ed noticed. They were heading towards the hills. But why? Winry noticed this too and frowned.

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" she asked, jerking her thumb back behind her and adding, "Because the water's over that way."

"Water?" Sora said, puzzled. "What's that got to do with anything? And the ship's right over there, see?" He pointed, and everyone's heads turned to follow it. Over on a nearby knoll sat the broken down gummi ship, orange exterior glistening in the sun.

Ed, Al, and Winry stared, and all was quiet for a moment. Then, Al slowly asked, "That isn't a boat, is it?"

**--TBC--**

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A/N: **

Well, the story is starting to pick up, slowly but surely. Many thanks to you reviewers, and a special thank you to Fullmetal Shinobi for correcting my spelling. ) Kudos to you guys! 

(Random Extra)(1)

**Winry:** Look Ed! -points to Donald- Finally, someone shorter than you!

**Ed & Donald:** HEY!

(Fin)

I got a headstart on the next chapter, so it might be posted by tommorow! Yay! I might actually meet the deadline! xD (Zana, out!)


	4. Shorty vs Spikey

**A/N:** Yay! Chapter four. I'm happy that I'm actually working on this consistantly...yet I still have this sinking feeling that it's not going to be finished by the end of the month. It's only a few more days away, and story-wise, the characers are still on the FMA world! I didn't think I was going to write this much! >>; Opps. Oh well.

(Bo-nasu Random Extra!)(In response to SamuraiSirius's question)

**Roy:** _Are_ we going be in this story?

**Zana:** ...

**Lust: **Well?

**Zana:** Er...I don't think so. I doubtI'll be able to work you guys in.

**Envy:** Whaaat? But Edward's in it!

**Roy:** -rolls eyes- Whoa duh. He's one of the main characters. Dumbass.

**Envy:**You know what?I was going to have Gluttony eat the author for cutting us out of the story, but now I've changed my mind. Ohh, Gluttony! Din-din time!

**Roy:** AHHHH!

**Zana:** -whistles innocently while walking away, really, reallyfast-

(Fin)

I apologize for that, truly. While they may be mentioned, Colonel Mustang and the Homuncli will probably not be making any actual appearances. You'll understand why soon enough, mes amis. PS- Fullmetal Shinobi, I have no problem with you sounding like your English teacher. You're being a big help, actually. My computer doesn't have spell-check, so all my typos tend to go unoticed for a while. So you have my thanks! After the story is completed, I'll update the all the chapters with mistakes with the new, improved ones. 3 Okay, this author's note has gone on long enough. On with the story!

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**(4) Shorty vs. Spikey**

A _flying_ machine? Yeah, right. Whatever. That spiky-haired kid was such a liar. No way could that bulky hunk of metal stay airborn. Ed just couldn't see that happening. He figured it was some type of car, suped up to look all fancy. It did have wheels, underneath. The wings on each side were probably a misguided attempt to make the vehicle more aerodynamic and faster.

Regardless of what it was, Winry had fallen in love with it.

A work of art, she said. Even though it was broken down. Never seen anything like it. It would be an honor to work on it. She'd have it fixed by tommorow.

She didn't actually say that last part, that she'd have it fixed by tommorow. But she would. Ed knew she would. He could tell by the look on her face, that glint in her eye...she was fixated on this thing. Oh sure, it was a strange and unusal vehicle, but no sweat. The basic components were familar enough to her. She might not be able to fix everything, but she could definitely get it running again. She would work on it relentlessly, and probably into the night as well. She wouldn't stop until she was done, Ed was positive about that.

Ed's predictions were fullfilled. Winry was stuck in obessed mechanic mode and worked determinedly on the ship. Sora and his friends were offered to stay the night at her house (which they accepted) and the Elrics Brothers stayed there too, even though they had orignally planned to leave earlier that day, after Ed's arm had been repaired. Granny came home and was surprised at so many guests, especially at the three new faces, but the elderly woman didn't make a big fuss out of it. Instead, she went and made them all dinner.

When nightfall came and Winry still did not return, Al announced that he was going to go check on her, and bring some food and a lantern for her as well. Goofy generously offered to go with him, since it was "too dark to be walking around out there alone" and he wanted to "thank that sweet 'lil girl for all her hard work". That left Ed, Sora, and Donald sitting in the living room in an awkward silence.

That silence wasn't going to last long, however. Without Alphonse and Goofy, the peacemakers of each group, things were bound to get...rowdy.

"So, uh, is Winry your guys' sister?" Sora asked, valantly attempting to start a conversation.

"No," Ed snorted, rolling his eyes. (He wasn't in the best of moods at the moment.)

"Is she your girlfriend then?" asked Donald, and not very innocently, since he grinned at the sight of Ed's face turning beet red.

"N-No!" Ed sputtered, waving his hands out in front of him, as if to ward off the words that suggested such a thing. "Of c-c-course not!"

"The why are you stuttering?" Donald wondered, tapping his chin. Sora laughed and decided to have some fun with this as well.

"Yeah, and why's your face so red?" he teased. "I mean, it's redder than your jacket!"

"Arrg, shut up Spikey! No one asked you!"

Sora stopped snickering. "Spikey?"

"Yeah," said Ed, seeking the chance to switch gears and make fun of them instead of vice versa. "Your hair practically defies gravity! How much gel do you pump in it to make it stay up that pointy?"

"Hey! My hair is _naturally _spikey," Sora said, looking a bit miffed.

"Yeah, and at least Sora doesn't _braid _his hair!" said Donald, not so much as to stick up for his friend, but rather because he firmly believed that only _he _was allowed to make fun of Sora.

Ed's hand unconsciously went to the back of his head and he fingered the braid. "Well, it's long, you know," he said defensively. "Braiding it keeps it out of the way."

"Why don't you just get it cut? Or do you like having girly hair?"

"Uh, Donald, let's just give it a rest." Sora wasn't above teasing, but this was quickly escalating into discord and that was something he wanted to avoid. His good-hearted nature urged him to make friends with others, not alienate them.

"Yeah, bird brain, give it a rest!" Well, there went Sora's plan. Ed's sour remark would surely--

"Hey! You'd better watch it, short-stuff!"

--get one in return. And Donald just had to call him short, of all things.

Ed jumped up from the couch, his eyes burning with rage. He shook a fist at Donald. "Short? Like you're one to talk!"

Donald bounced off his chair and took a similar stance. "I'm normal height for my race! But for a human, you look like a midget!"

"That tears it!" Ed shouted. "No one calls me short and gets away with it! Especially not some ducked-face chimera!"

"Oh yeah? Well, no one calls _me _a shim-ra-whatever and gets away with _it_! 'Specially not an annoying, loudmouthed, girly-haired shorty!"

The two leapt at each other. However, despite what Donald said, Edward was still taller than him and the height difference made it hard to fight. No one was actually landing any hits, and maybe they weren't as serious about it as they looked. Yet they were still going at it, and Sora was getting uncomfortable. Eventually, someone _would _get hurt, intentionally or not.

But what was he supposed to do? Without Goofy, their voice of reason, Sora was at a loss. One thing was for sure: he definitely wasn't getting into that (semi) brawl. When one of them bumped against into a corner table, though, and knocked over a vase, he decided it was time for action.

"Uhhh...THUNDER!"

Okay. Not the best course of action. But it worked. The two stopped fighting. Donald looked a bit frazzled, but he sighed, muttered something that was close enough to the word 'sorry', and fell over on the couch.

Ed, however, was not sorry, and only stopped fighting with Donald so he could fight with Sora instead. He whirled around (looking a little worse for wear) and practically exploded on the Keyblade master.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he shouted in Sora's face, waving his automail arm up and down. "See this?" he said, "See it? It's made of metal! _Metal!_ My left leg is metal too. And ya know what metal does, Spikey? _It conducts electricity!_"

Which explained why his hair was standing on end. (It was fuzzy and poofed, and Sora might have laughed if the reason for this afro hadn't been life threatning.)

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sora began, but then he blinked. "Wait a mintue...your arm and leg are made of metal?"

"Of course!" Ed spat. "That's why I'm called the Fullmetal Alchemist, duh! And shooting electricity at me isn't exactly..." This time, Ed stopped and blinked. "Hold up...you shot electricity at me?"

They both paused and looked very thoughtful. Obviously, Sora hadn't known Ed had an automail arm and leg. And Ed hadn't seen Sora whip out a gaint key to use magic. (Because he was too busy wrestling Donald to notice. And once Sora is done with the keyblade, it vanishes, of course.) These new discoveries about each other lead to some very mistaken conclusions, which were both voiced at the same time:

"Metal limbs? That must mean...you're part robot!"

"Fired bolts of electricity? Then I was right...you're an alchemist!"

To which were responded to not only simontamously, but in the exact same wording as well:

"NO I'M NOT!"

Before either boy could elaborate farther, though, the front door swung opened and in walked Goofy and Al, Goofy carrying an empty food tray.

"Guess what guys. Winry said she'd have the ship running by sunrise," Al annouced, completely oblivious to any previous happenings due to his absence.

"I wish she woulda came back with us though," said Goofy. "She shouldn't be working herself so hard, and especially at this late hour! I mean, gwarsh, we ain't in no hurry."

"Don't worry Goofy. Winry doesn't see that as hard work. She likes doing that kind of stuff. She'll be fine. Here," Al took the empty tray. "I'll go put this in sink. Oh. And thank you for walking with me."

"Why, you're welcome!" he exclaimed. "It was nice chatting with ya." After Al left for the kitchen, Goofy turned back around to face the others. "So, what were you fellas up to while we were gone?"

The question hung in the air for a moment, then Ed held up a hand and walked away, saying, "No. My head already hurts. I'm going to bed."

**--TBC-- **

**

* * *

(Random Extra!)(A Walk to Remember)((**Don't worry; no one dies.)) 

_So, what_ did _Goofy and Al actually chat about during their walk?_

**Goofy:** You got a lot of armor on, huh?

**Al**: Yeah...

**Goofy**: Don't cha get hot in there?

**Al**: Um. Not really. -sweatdrop-

**Goofy**: I'm a knight too, ya know! I just don't wear a full suit of armor, is all.

**Al**: (But...I'm not a knight...)

**Goofy**: Hey! When we get back to the house, woulda mind if I tried on your helmet? I betcha it'll fit me!

**Al**: Umm... -bigger sweatdrop- You can't.

**Goofy**: Why not?

**Al**: Because...I have helmet hair? -biggest sweatdrop-

_Somewhere, in another dimension, on another world..._

**Shrek**: My orge senses are tingling...someone...is stealing my lines!

(Fin)

Review, and the moogles will give you a kupo nut. 3


	5. We Have Liftoff!

**(5) We have lift-off! **

"Well, boys?"

Winry leaned in the doorway, twirling a wrench in one hand. There were bags under her eyes, but they were the only indicators of tiredness. She looked as bright and peppy as ever, and not to mention smug. She flashed them a 100-watt smile.

"Are you ready to fly outta here?"

"You mean you did it? You really fixed it?" Sora asked in a hurried excitement, a bit of unguarded maple syrup drizzling down his chin. (Granny had made pancakes for breakfast.)

"More or less," shrugged Winry. "There's a lot I couldn't fix because I didn't know how it worked or what it was. But I did manage to get the engine running, and I attached a new left wing out of out the extra--what are they called? Gummi blocks? Well, anyway, it should at least run now. Whether or not you can get it airborn is up to you. So, whaddya say? Wanna give it a try?"

"Yeah!" said Sora, leaving his breakfast unfinished on the table. "Let's go!"

"Oh boy!" Donald exclaimed, aslo abandoning his food.

"Yahoo!" Goofy said, then stabbed his fork through the last of his pancakes. (And while his two friends rushed after Winry, he stayed behind to clear the table and puts everyone's dishes in the sink first before hurrying after them.)

Winry, on their way to the front door, pulled a sudden about-face, causing Sora to jerk to a halt before he ran right into her. Donald, however, crashed into Sora, and Goofy, not able to ward off his clusmyness in time, tripped and fell over, landing ontop the other two.

"I almost forgot!" said Winry, "You guys still have to pay me first!"

Sora poked his head out from underneath the dog-pile. "Uh, how much is it?" he asked.

Winry did not require time to think this over. Apparently, she knew how much it would cost before she even started the repairs. "Ten thousands sens," she replied automatically. She felt a little bad about it afterwards, considering how outrageously high-priced that was. (Twice as much as Ed's arm!) But still. Money didn't grow on trees.

The trio untangled themselves and began searching their pockets. Then, Winry was presented with a dozen or so orbs, all big, white, and shiney. But despite how valuable they looked, they weren't sens.

"This isn't money," she pointed out.

"Sure it is," Sora blinked at her. He didn't know what she had meant by sen, by this definitely was munny. A lot of it, too. They were holding out their biggest munny orbs! Surely it would be enough to cover the costs?

Winry stared at him. That was definitely _not _money. Then something clicked in her mind, and she understood why they thought it was. "Oh, this is the currency you guys use in the west, isn't it?" She smiled; now it made sense.

"Uh, sure," Sora shrugged. "Will you still accept it?"

"Well, in this country, it has no value whatsoever. But," Winry reached out and collected the munny orbs from their hands. "I'll take it anyway. They're pretty looking. And besides, I shouldn't really charge you for a service I enjoyed doing. I'm so lucky that I got to work on a foreign flying-machine! I bet that not even all the mechanics in Rush Valley have ever done that!"

"Then would you like to see us take off?" Goofy offered. Donald shot him a worried look, but Goofy just grinned and whispered, _"It won't hurt nothing."_

"Could I?" ask Winry, eyes sparkling and hands clasped together in front of her. "That would be really amazing! I'd love to see it actually fly!"

"Well then, come on!" Sora laughed. He lunged for the door, then froze. "Oh wait! What about Ed and Al? Do they wanna see us take off too?"

Winry's sparkling-ness shut off in an instance and she rolled her eyes. "No. They've already left, I think," she explained, seeming a little irked. "They're always doing that. Up and leaving, without a word."

"Aw," Sora sighed. "So we won't even get to tell them good-bye?"

Winry shook her head. "Forget those two, kid. They're the ones who should have said good-bye, but if they don't care about the rest of us, then fine. We shouldn't care about them. Especially Edward, that thickhead! He's the ringleader. He could at least leave a note or something! I mean, geesh, is it that much to ask?" Winry was begining to look flustered. "But he never thinks about anyone else! He just doesn't care! So neither should I!"

"But you do, don't you?" Sora asked softly, as they walked out the front door and headed to the gummi ship.

Winry just shrugged her shoulders, but she paused at the door for a moment after Sora had turned around, then muttered under her breath, "More than you know, kid. But wherever Ed and his brother are at right now, he's definitely not thinking about me."

--------

Which was entirely untrue. Ed _was_ thinking about Winry.

_I can't believe it_. _Winry really fixed this thing up! It doesn't look anything like the hunk of junk it was before. And she did this all in one night? Damn, she's good... _

Those were his thoughts as he and Al snuck onto the gummi ship.

Al, naturally, had been against it at first. It was breaking and entering, after all. But Ed couldn't care less about the law at this point. Spikey and his two chimeras had snagged his curiousty, but Ed perfered actually _knowing_ things as opposed to wondering about them. And since the trio would not just tell him themselves, he would have to do a little harmless investigating.

And yeah, okay, there was something else that Ed was looking for, besides information. He had thought about how Sora had blasted him with a bolt of electricity the night before, and he realized two things: one, Sora did not draw a transmutation circle, and two, Sora's bolt of lightning broke the laws of conservation. True, Ed himself does not need to draw a transmutation circle, but he's a special circumstance and it was highly doubtful that Sora was the same. And the broken laws could only be explained one way. That lightning bolt had to come from somewhere, and from some type of similiar form at least. But there was no way that Sora's did. He must have created it out of something else, because something can't be made from nothing, but then that meant he used something lesser to make something greater. Which completely ignored the rules of Equivalent Exchange.

You can't ignore the rules Equivalent Exchange though. Not on your own. You need something to help you. Something the Elric Brothers have been searching for, for a long time now.

Sora had to have a piece of the Philosper Stone on him, of course, to pull off that stunt he did the other night, but Edward didn't bother questioning him; the kid would probably play dumb again. So why waste time? Instead, he would search their so called "flying" ship. If they were lucky, there might be a Philosper Stone lying around in there.

After explaining these theories to Al, his brother couldn't argue. Even if they were breaking the law. (Although it's not like they hadn't done so already.)

Ed climbed into the cockpit and Al followed in after him. They both took a mintue to stare at the inside of the ship in awe. It was like nothing they have ever seen before. Everything was white and shiney. Three star-shaped seats faced the glass window. In front of said window was a control panel, covered with gadgets and buttons glore. A TV-like monitor hung from the ceiling, it's screen black.

After a bit of examining, Ed tried to look unimpressed. "There's nothing up here, Al," he said, despite the fact that there was a lot of up there. He looked around some more, then spotted a door in the back. He tapped Al on the shoulder and pointed to it. "Let's check in there."

"It might be locked, brother," Al began, but Ed was already opening it. "Okay then. Nevermind."

Alphonse went in after his brother, absently shutting the door behind them. The room was small and walled with shevles full of various things. There was a round, metal plate on the floor, probably some kind of trapdoor. Or, maybe, an emergency exit door. There were no windows or flashy buttons here; just the round door and the shelves.

Ed was taking a particular interest in the shelves. He sorted through the strange things until something caught his eye. Up, on the very top shelf, was a box labled 'INVENTORY'. That sounded promising, so Ed reached out to get it...

And he reached...and he reached some more...

"Do you want me to--"

"No!" Ed thrust out a hand to stop his (not-so) little brother from assisting him. "I got it."

He pushed aside some things on the bottom shelves and used the cleared spaces as footholds so he could scale the shelves. (Al would have rolled his eyes, had his eyes not been glowing orbs in an empty helmet.) He reached the top shelf and grabbed for the Inventory box...but suddenly, the shelves starting wobbling. Neither of them knew why, but Ed's added weight unbalanced the shelves, causing them to...well, fall over.

Potions, ethers, elixirs, and other random items toppled out of their of boxes and buried the Elric Brothers. Then, to make matters worse, the floor unexpectedly _slanted upwards_, making the two boys plus all the items slide and crash into the back wall.

"Arrg!" Ed's angry head popped out from a pile of rather sharp synthesis items. "What the heck's going on here!"

"Um, brother? I think the ship's taking off..."

Ed's jaw dropped to the floor.

"WHAAAAT?"

**--TBC--**

* * *

**A/N:** Okay. It's offical. I am _so_ not making the deadline. I blame work. Making me bag groceries for eight hours in a row. Leaves little time for anything else. Gah. Oh well. I'll enter what I have and hope for the best. I'll still continue writing the story, of course. As long as you wonderful people keep reading. :) 

**(Random Extra)(Coming out of the closet...?)**

**Zana: **Why the long face, Axel? Is something wrong?

**Axel:** Well...everyone thinks I'm gay.

**Zana:** ...

**Zana:** So...

**Zana:** You mean...you're not?

**Axel:** OF COURSE I'M NOT!

**Zana:** Sorry, sorry. I just assumed, you know, with how obessed you are with Roxas...

**Axel:** SHUT UP!

**Zana:** Oh, come on, you know I was just teasing ya...

**Axel:** -sniff- I'm not a fruitcake, I swear!

**(Fin)**


	6. To Disney Castle or Bust!

**(6) To Disney Castle or Bust!**

Ed knelt by the door, but if anyone was talking on the other side of it, he couldn't hear them. Everything had finally stopped moving, but he had a feeling that the ship itself hadn't. The take off had been a little rough, but now that they were up in the air, the ship was gliding along smoothly.

Ed shuddered to think of _where_ the ship was gliding along. The air, yes. But that's what made him shudder. They couldn't be in the air! Ed was smart to know that yes, flying ship could be invented, but he also believed that he was smart enough to know that _this _ship was not the one. It just seemed so bulkly and big, even after Winry fixed it. Two thin wings on the sides wasn't enough to keep it airborn.

No, it was impossible. They were not zooming through the sky.

But then...why was he feeling so air-sick?

"Brother, let's just go out there," Al whispered, crouched in a corner, surrounded by various and unfamiliar items that they had knocked over. "They won't be angry at us if we just tell them we were curious about how the inside of the ship looked. Then they can turn around and take us back. I'm sure we won't get into too much trouble."

"I'm not worried about getting into trouble, Al," Ed replied off-handedly, "I'm just think--"

"AHA!" shouted a sudden, _raspy _voice. "I knew heard something back here!"

Both brothers nearly jumped in surprise. Standing before them in the now open door was Donald. The duck had his hands on his hips and was tapping a webbed foot impatiently at them.

"Well?" he asked, after getting two blank stares from the Elrics. "What do you think you're doing here, huh? You can't leave your world like that! Tsk, tsk, you two are in big time trouble now."

"Donald, who are you talking to back there?" called someone from up front.

"Come see for yourself!"

Sora walked to the back door and peered into the room at Donald's gesture. In one corner was Al, who was looking pretty worried (or as worried as a suit of armor can be), and right in front of them in the doorway was Ed, who only looked mildly annoyed. (Who he was annoyed at, though, was uncertain.)

"We have stow aways!" Donald announced.

Sora rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Oh no." He seemed flustered."What the heck are you guys doing here?"

"We were...curious about the inside of your ship," Ed replied weakly. Not that he would admit it, but he was feeling a tad uneasy. What were they going to do with him and his brother? Would they make walk the plank? Was there even a plank to begin with? Probably not. It was flying ship, afterall. They'd probably just pitch 'em overboard and let them fall to their deaths...

After seeing the concerned look on Sora's face, however, Ed realized how unlikely that would be. Sora and his friends were clearly too good-hearted to do such a thing. Just by looking at him, Ed could tell that Sora was the kind of person who, instead of squashing a bug that got inside your house, would cup the bug in his hands and release it back outside. Sora throwing them off the ship was as likely as Ed hitting a growth sprut: it wasn't going to happen.

So Ed went back to looking annoyed and kept it at that.

"All right, no problem!" Sora exclaimed, after some apparent thinking. He was just flowing with optimism now. "Goofy!" he called to the front, "Turn around and head back! We need to drop some passengers off!"

There was, for a short period, some amount of confusion. Goofy didn't understand what Sora had meant, so he and Donald brought the two brothers up front with them and showed him. That's when said brothers saw out of the window and flipped out, because instead of blue sky, there was a star-filled black, the occasional meteroid passing by. When they were told this was a flying ship, they never realized just how _high _it flew.

Ed had been reluctant about flying ships. So, naturally, when learned this was a _space _ship, he retreated back into denial and told himself it was all just some sort of trick.

Al had been accepting. Instead of coming up with logical reasons why it was impossible, like Ed was currently doing, he simply asked for an explaination.

"Well, they're already here," said Sora. "So we might as well tell them."

After a little squabbling from Donald, who thought this "interference" was only going to cause problems, Sora told the Elric Brothers about how there were many different worlds out there, not just one, and that the gummi ship was used to travel between them. He didn't see any reason to elaborate further and tell them about the broken barriers, and the Heartless and Nobodies. Afterall, they were going to drop them off on their world and that would be the end of that.

Or so he had thought.

"What do you mean you can't find it?" he asked Goofy.

"We must of flew too far. It's not coming up on radar and no one bothered to record the coordinates!"

Ed, who's face had, up until reccently, been planted on the window, turned to raise an eye brow at them. "You can't find our world?" he asked, trying not sounded panicked. "Not that I believe in any this," he quickly added, purely out of stubborness. "I know it's all a trick. But still. You need to, uhh, make it stop and get us back."

"Hey, it's your fault for sneaking on board in the first place," Donald pointed out.

"I'm aware," Ed growled. "Bird brain."

"I wish the monitor wasn't still broken," said Sora, completely ignoring both Ed and Donald. (That seemed to be the best solution to those two.) "Chip and Dale could probably find it for us."

"Shorty," Donald sneered.

"I'm thinking maybe we'll hafta go there first then," Goofy replied thoughtfully. (While also ignoring Ed and Donald.) "There's still a coupla things Miss Rockbell couldn't fixed, so we need to stop there anyway."

"That's it! I'm gonna make duck soup out of you!"

"But what about them?" Sora asked, and by them, he meant the Elrics. "I thought we weren't allowed to take others to different worlds like that."

"Brother, stop it! You can't pull his feathers out!"

"Yeah, but we ain't got no other choice," Goofy said, and that was undeniably true. They couldn't take them to their home world if they couldn't find it. And they couldn't find it until they went to see Chip and Dale.

"I have a magic staff and I'm not afraid to use it! I'll fry your brains out! If you have any."

"I guess your right." Sora took his seat in the middle and began punching in coordinates on the control pannel.

"I have more brains than you, chimera-boy!" Ed yelled, kicking his feet out at Donald in a vain attempt to hit him. (Vain because Al was holding him back.) "I'm way smarter than--whoa!" The ship gave a sudden lurch, shooting through the stars like a fired arrow. "What's going on?"

"We heading out," said Sora, not taking his eyes off the controls.

"Where to?" Al questioned. You wouldn't know it, but he was kind of having fun. He didn't understand, not for the life of him, why though. Maybe it was just the aspect of a new adventure. Because that's definitely what it was turning out to be. No doubt about it.

"Disney Castle," Sora replied. "Or bust!"

"I really hope it's the former," commented Goofy. " 'Cos I think we've busted enough as it is."

**--TBC--**

* * *

**A/N: **Right. The story was supposed to be at this point about, oh, three chapters ago. Lol. It's no wonder I can never make the deadlines. The deadline for this contest is tommorow, so I won't have it finished in time, obviously. But I will still update it. Maybe not as frequently. But I will. Yay. 

My brain is fried, so there will be no Random Extras in this chapter. So instead, I've decided to respond to some reviews! Because I love you guys so much! (In a completely platonic way.)

**Musashi the Master:** No, Ed doesn't have a Nobody, although I was considering the idea in the begining. I was planning on having Ed being attacked by a Heartless, thus becoming one himself and creating a Nobody...but then I thought, nah, that's too complicated. And then the plot changed completely. xD

**icefox35:** You remind me a lot of Fuu.

**SamuriSirius:** THANK YOU!

**Fullmetal Shinobi:** You're awesome. Thank you. No worries; it won't that long to finish this. I might have it done by the end of _this_ month, maybe. Lol. And again, domo arigatou for the spelling help. I knew 'Philosopher' wasn't spelled right, but I just couldn't remember it... >>;;

**Cylon One:** Aw, thank you for inflating my ego! (Not that it isn't big enough as it is. -grin-)

Read, review, repeat. Kupo nuts to all! (Zana, out.)


	7. Empty Like Me

**(7) Empty Like Me**

There was no such thing as other worlds. There was also no such thing as talking animals who worked as engineers. The whole notion of either one was ridiculous.

Yet Edward found himself in a strange place called Disney Castle, carrying on a conversation with a furry little creature holding a wrench.

From a scientific standpoint, Ed would argue that he was either dreaming, insane, or a combination of the two. But he positive he was awake (after pinching his left arm) and he felt as sane as ever. So apparently, scienece was completely useless here. Maybe he would just to accept it.

Seeing was believing, afterall, and Ed had seen enough.

The red-nosed chipmunk was making him and Al describe their homeworld to him in as much detail as possible, while the black-nosed chipmunk scurried about the hangar with the others, using machines and weird devices to give the gummi ship full repairs. In the back of his mind, Ed sub-conciously wished Winry was here to see this place; she'd be in heaven.

"All right, the sheild generators are back up, the cannons reloaded, and the monitor is online again, so you guys can contact us," the black-nosed chipmunk was saying, checking off a list on his tiny clipboard. "And everything else seems to be in working order! Whoever fixed it for you really did a good job!"

"Well, I guess Winry has to be good at something," Ed muttered.

_(Back in Resembool... "ACHOO!")_

"What about their world?" Sora asked. "Can you guys locate it for us?"

Chip and Dale huddle together to review their notes. After some whispering, they broke apart and saluted at Sora. "We'll find it, no problem!" They both piped.

"That's great! Can you do it now?"

"No!" the chipmunks both replied cheerfully. "It will take a while!"

"The gummi ship automatically records where you traveled to," explained Chip.

"But your records got scrambled up after that ambush, and we just now fixed it," said Dale.

"So we have no recorded data of their world. Only what they've just now told us," Chip added.

"We'll hafta make a whole new device to find its coordinates!" Dale exclaimed.

"An Interworld Positioning System!" said Chip. "It will help guide you to every known world via gummi ship!"

"But building the IPS will take a while," Dale put in.

"How long?" Sora asked.

"Maybe just a few hours," began Chip.

"Or maybe just a few days," finished Dale. "We don't really know. It's not gonna be easy, that's for sure!"

"But don't worry!" Chip cut in, hopping up and down. "We can do it! No problem! We'll let you know when it's done, okay?"

"Okay," Sora agreed, feeling a slight headache coming on. Until this IPS thing was built, Ed and Al would have to stay with them. But they couldn't just stand around wait; they had stuff to do! Sora still needed to find Riku and Kairi, and deal with Organization XIII as well.

There was no time to waste. Ed and Al would just have to come along with them until the IPS was operational.

--------

The group entered the courtyard, green and overflowing with giant hedge sculptures. After a short discussion, the trio decided that since they were already here, they might as well go and check on Queen Minnie real quick. They explained the current situation to the Elrics, whom agreed to stay with them. (Not that they really had any choice.) Al was excited about getting the chance to meet an actual queen, and Ed was pacified at the mention of a library.

"This way!" Goofy said, taking off in his ungainly run towards the castle enterance. Sora, Donald, and Edward followed, but Al came to a sudden stop once the others were out of view.

Something was wrong here.

For a giant suit of armor, Al felt strangely attuned to his new surroundings. He paused and looked around at the seemingly empty courtyard. Nothing moved or made any noise, aside from a couple of bluebirds resting ontop one of the hedges.

"I know you're there," he said to the courtyard in general, feeling a lot more stupid than he sounded. But something _was _there. And not just the birds. Something was watching him. "Please, come on out. I...won't hurt you, or anything..."

When there was no reply, Al felt decidedly more stupid than ever. He was just being paranoid. That's what he thought, anyway, until he heard a burst of laughter ring out from behind him.

"_You _won't hurt _me_? Hahaha, well isn't _that _good to know? Hahahaha--oh geez. That cracks me up!"

Al whirled around. Behind him was the enterance to the Gummi Hangar, which was built inside the castle-shaped hedge in the center of the courtyard. Standing at the top of this mini-castle was a girl, pale face split into a wide grin, the source of the laughter.

But in opposition to the carefree grin, a pair of perculiar purple eyes stared down at him, unblinking. They looked him up and down, examining him. Al felt uneasy again, realizing that this was the person who had been watching them.

But hey, if she was going to stare at him, he was going to stare back. (Or, that was his justification for it, anyway.)

She looked to be about his age, fifteen or sixteen maybe. Her skin was rather pale yet so was her hair, a light-brown color bordering on blonde. It was tied back into a long and flowing ponytail, but equally long strands of bangs fell into her face. Her outfit was simple: a light pink tank-top that showed a little of her mid-driff, a black bracer on each wrist, black shoes, and baggy, black pants. This pink-and-black pattern was broken, however, by a white symbol on her left pants' leg. It looked something like a cross, but Al wasn't sure what it really was. Oh, and let's not forget those freaky purple eyes that were now finally blinking at him.

"Um," said Al.

In one swift motion, the strange girl leapt off the castle-hedge, landed with cat-like grace on the ground below, then unexpectedly leaned forward, so she was right in Alphonse's face. Startled and caught off guard by her speed, Al stumbled a few steps backward.

"Oh, don't worry," she said sweetly, then echoed his words, "I won't hurt you, or anything. Heh."

Al then noticed something else that the girl was wearing, and that was weapons. At each side of her waist, hanging from a hard-to-see black belt, was a long, silver dagger, curved into a crescent shape. Light gleaned off the sharp edges. Apparently, this girl was a fighter. Not that Al, in his current state, would have to worry much, but it was still good to know. She didn't really look it, but this girl could possibly be dangerous. He had to keep his guard up.

"Who are you?" she asked out of nowhere, taking the words right out of Al's mouth.

"H-Hey!" he said, "I think I'm the one who should be asking that! You were the one stalking me, after all!"

"I wasn't stalking you," she said, and not in a way that implied innocence, but rather, that she had been stalking someone other than him. "But whatever. My name is Iza. Now will you tell me your's?"

"Al," he replied, not knowing what else he should have said or done at the moment.

"Short for Alfred?" Iza wondered.

"Alphonse," he corrected.

She stepped forward so that she was right in front of him again, and this time, Al stood his ground. But she didn't do anything, just looked at him. She seemed to be deep in thought. Then, slowly, she asked, "You're an alchemist, aren't you Al?"

Which was the very last thing he was expecting her to say. "Hooow, how did, how--" he couldn't seem to get his words straight, due to his surprise, but he eventually managed. "How do you know that?"

"I know a lot," was her reply, and that really didn't explain anything. She flashed him a smile, but it was an odd smile: it was almost as if Iza had heard of the concept of smiling before, but never really tried it. It didn't seem real.

Now, Al should have been questioning her. He should have been asking her why she had been following them. And who exactly she was following. And who she was. And how she knew about alchemy. And why her smile was so freaking weird.

But before Al could even organize his thoughts and begin the game of 20 questions, Iza did another unexpected thing: she made a fist, and without word, knocked on Al's chest, as if it were some kind of door.

When the knock echoed back to her, she didn't look the least bit surprised. "Hollow," she muttered, and a strange look crossed her face.

"Well, um, you see--" Al flattered, not knowing how he was going to explain _that_, short of actually telling the truth.

"You're empty," Iza continued. "Just like me."

Al never got the chance to ask her what she meant, because suddenly, something black began swirling under her feet. The dazed look on her face changed and became one of annoyance. "Oh geez, what does he want now?" she complained, rolling her eyes. The blackness underneath her sprang up after the words left her mouth, vines of it shooting upwards then falling back down over her, like a net. The circle of black on the ground grew wider and she began sinking into it.

"Iza!" Al cried out, but the strange thing was, she didn't seem frightened in the slightest. She looked calm, almost bored, as if being sucked into a giant portal of darkness was no big deal.

"Looks like I gotta go," she told him brightly. "I'll see ya later. Oh, and by the way, you might want to hurry and catch up with your friends. Trouble's brewing."

"Wait, what's going on? Where are you--"

"Nice meeting you. Later, Al." Iza smiled one last odd smile before completely sinking into the ground. The black portal swirled once more, then disappeared.

Speechless, Al stared at the spot Iza had just sunk into until a sudden burst of noise caught his attention. He looked to the left, where the noise was coming from, and saw the Colonnade, the castle's balcony-like hallway. Through the white stone pillars, Al could clearly make out Sora, Goofy, and Donald, along with his older brother, defending themselves against a horde of attacking shadow-like creatures.

A new adventure? Pfft. A new disaster was more like it. After taking one last look at the spot where Izahad beentaken, Al turned and ran for the castle.

**--TBC--**

**

* * *

A/N:** Okay, so an orignal character has been introduced! And since I think it's pretty obvious to what Iza is, I'll go ahead and confirm that, yes, in one of the earlier chapters, the "mysterious figure" who was looking at the gummi ship was indeedIza.

Now make me feel special and review. Thankies!

**(Random Extra)(Some Artist...)**

**Roxas:** Namine, about your drawings, the ones you showed me in the White Room...

**Namine:** Yeah? What do you think of them?

**Roxas:** We-ell...

**Namine:**Don't worry.I want an honest opinion. Were they any good?

**Roxas:** Not really. It's looks like a two year-old drew them.

**Namine:** -pulls out a frying pan from nowhereand whacks Roxas to death with it- Jerk!

**Zana:** Uh...I thought you wanted an honest opinion?

**Namine:** Yeah, but he was still suppose to lie so he wouldn't hurt my feelings. Duh.

**Roxas:** xX;

(Fin!)


	8. Denied!

**A/N:** I. Have. Updated! Hurray! Unfortunately, it's a shortie. Sorry; work's been keeping me busy, and now school's coming up...ugh. This chapter was orignally a bit longer, but I haven't written the rest of it yet, so I decided to just split it and save the second half for the next chapter. Chapter updates are going to be a bit slower now, but I'll get this done, I swear! xD

* * *

**(8) Denied**!

"Hey, babe, it's about time you got here. What'd you do, take the scenic route?"

Iza scrowled as she walked down the white marble floor of the Hall of Empty Melodies. She came to a halt once she reached the center of the floor, looking up to give Demyx a burning glare.

"It's _your_ fault; you're the one who summoned me here," she said in a biting voice, the annoyance on her face as clear as day."So it wasn't me who was slow, it was you. And by the way, call me 'babe' again and I'll take that sitar of yours and shove it up where the sun don't shine, got it?"

Demyx flinched back; not so much because of her threat but rather, the way she said it. She was in one of her 'bite-your-head-off' moods, which was always the mood she was in when she was around him. Not for the life of him could Demyx understand why exactly, but he had this feeling that Iza didn't like him very much. It didn't make any sense, though. Demyx was such a cool dude! How could anyone _not _like him?

It might have helped, perhaps, if he knew what the word 'ego' meant.

Whatever. It wasn't his fault that Iza was a grouch. And where was she getting off, threatening him like that? _He _was the higher-up here. _He_ was in charge of her. _He_ was the one who made the threats.

It took him a moment before he could think up one, though.

"Hey!" he shouted, hoping to sound authoritive. "How dare you talk to me like that! Know your place, or else I'll turn into a Dusk!"

"Go ahead and try, Idiot," snapped Iza, completely unfazed. Demyx seemed frustrated at this for a second, then sighed. He didn't have time for this.

"Look, just hurry up and give me your report," he said, sounding more pleading than authoritive. "Xemnas has called a meeting and I just know he's going to attack me for progress results on my mission. So please tell me you have something either progressive or resultive."

"Why can't I just go to this meeting and tell him myself?"

"Because," Demyx said, taking on the tone a parent would while explaining something to a child, "This meeting is for Organization members only, and you're just a minion, not a member. Also, giving the head honcho some useful information will make me look good!" He flashed Iza a 100-watt smile and she had to desperately resist the urge to knock his lights out.

"So spill," he ordered, and she could no longer could disobey. No matter how idiotic he was, he still ranked higher than she did.

"Nothing much. Sora and his friends are still traveling through the worlds, searching for their friends and that king. And probably plotting the downfall for the Organization while they're at it, especially after your failed attempt to "confront" Sora in the Underworld." Demyx carefully choose to ignore that remark, letting Iza continue. "I don't think Roxas has made any contact with him yet and Sora is still completely clueless on that matter. Oh, and two new people have joined Sora's party."

"New people? Are they significant in any way?" Demyx wanted to know.

"Not really," she answered. "They left their world by accident and are trying to get back to it. They won't pose a threat."

"Okay, good. And what about Axel? Did you see Axel?"

"No, he's still AWOL. Saïx is tracking him though, last I heard."

"Right," Demyx nodded and looked very thoughtful, which was a big shocker to Iza. Was he actually processing the information the she just gave him?

"Iza?" he finally said, after his rare pensive moment.

"Yeah?" It looked liked he had come to some sort of a conclusion. But what..?

"I need you to get a piece of paper and write all that down. There's no way I can possibly remember it all."

All hope of Demyx gaining some amount of intelligence just flew out the window. And right now, Iza wanted to jump out the window right along with it.

--------

Al had never seen anything like it. What _were _those things? They didn't seem to be either people or animals; creatures was a better fitting word. Although they had varying forms, all of them were dark and all of them had yellow eyes. And, for whatever reason, all of them were attacking.

So Al didn't waste any time trying to figure what the creatures were; they were trying to hurt the others, so stopping them was all that mattered. He whipped out a piece of chalk and began drawing a transmutation circle on the floor, some feet away from the battle. Many of the creatures attacked together in masses, he noted, so if he could transmutate part of the floor up into a cage around the ones in groups, the battle would end a lot quicker.

When the hurried transmutation circle was done, Al smacked his hands onto the ground, signaling for the flow of alchemy to begin. The circle began to glow faintly and then...

...nothing happened.

"Don't bother, Al!" someone shouted. Al looked up to see his older brother side-stepping a wide swing from one of the more lanky creatures. He watched, momentarily transfixed, as the creature melted into the ground like a shadow, then shoot up in its three-dimensional form behind Ed for a surprise attack. However, without missing a beat, Ed whirled around, slamming his metal fist into the creature's gut. The thing then vanished, turning into something like a black vapor and dispersing into the air. "Alchemy doesn't work here!" Ed quickly shouted in explaination before he jumped back into the fray.

Al pulled himself off the ground, but his mind was too busy thinking. It made him slow for a moment, being seeped in his confusion. Only when a flying creature came rushing at him, blazing with fire, did his mind finally snap to attention, commanding his body to move out of the way. But the thing was too fast. In one second, it was right in front of his face.

And in the next second, it too was cut through and vaporized. Where the creature had just previously been stood Sora, weilding some type of weapon that looked like...a giant key?

"Be careful," he advised, "They'll try to take your heart!" With that, he hacked his way back into the mass of shadow-creatures, destorying one after another with ease. Ed was still fist-fighting his share by the pillars, and farther down, Al saw Goofy plowing through them with a sheild and Donald firing blasts of ice and fire at them with some sort of staff.

No alchemy. Huge keys for swords. Talking ducks using what could only be described as magic. And to top it all off, dark creatures that relentlessly attacked and wanted to steal your heart.

And here Al had thought he'd seen some weird things on _his _world. The Homuncli, with their strange and dangerous powers; the subjects of Lab Five, like that annoying guy with the tail; Louis Armstrong, who was always taking off his shirt for no apparent reason...ha. All of that almost seemed _normal _compared to this. Even Al himself, an actual living suit of armor, paled next to the extremely bizarre situations he was encountering here.

Regardless of however weird it was, Al cleared his mind for now and joined in to fight off the creatures. Whether or not they could take your heart was of no concern to him, because technically, in his current state Al did not have a heart. Or...not the kind of heart he was thinking of, anyway.

For a while, it seemed as if the horde of enemies was endless. For every foe defeated, another would take its place. Yet eventually, the Colonnade cleared out, the group defeating every last one until no more appeared.

After checking to make sure that no one was injured (which they weren't), Al's mind went back to confused-mode and he was about to unleash a torrent of questions. Ed, however, beat him to it and managed do so with just a single question as opposed to a thousand:

"What the hell was _that_?"

**--TBC--**

* * *

**A/N: **I'm not really good at battle scenes, if you haven't already figured that out yet. I tried, okay? This was kinda small-scale anyway. But yes, there will be more fighting. Eventually. Now, because I just _know_ someone will ask this if I don't explain, why doesn't Ed and Al's alchemy work? Simple. They're not on their world anymore. While they realize this, they will still be a bit unsure as to why that is. So let me tell you instead:

If you've seen some of the last few episodes, you'll understand. Remember when Ed ends up on the other side of the gate(somewhere in Europe)and meets his dad and, eventually, gets hit by a crashing zepplin? Okay, now remember what his dad told him about how alchemy works, and where the power for it comes from? There ya go. The Elrics' world is actually two-in-one, and their world depends on its parallel world for alchemy to work. Or, that's my impression, anyway. TA-DA! Yeah, you're probably still confused, aren't you? Just go with it, then, all right? All right.

**(Random Extra!)(Beware of...that..one guy...you know...)**

**Sora:** Sephiroth? What's he look like?

**Cloud:** Silver hair. Carries a long sword.

**Sora:** ...

**Cloud:** What?

**Sora:** Dude. You just described about half of all the male characters in anime and RPGs.

**Cloud:** Um.

**Sora:** I mean, come on! Am I supposed to be on the look-out for _Inuyasha_ or something? Gee, thanks for the details, Cloud!

**(Fin!)**


	9. Curious and Confused

**(9) Curious and Confused**

"Goodness gracious!"

Queen Minnie, standing in front of an extremely huge door, wrung her hands and looked worriedly at Sora and his friends. After hearing noises coming from outside the audience room, the queen went to investigate and witnessed the last part of the battle.

"Is everyone all right?" she asked.

"Yes, your Majesty," said Donald, saluting, "No one was injuried."

Behind Donald, Ed's jaw dropped. _Your Majesty!_ You mean that mouse-lady-thing was the queen? How...strange. Then again, this _was _Donald's and Goofy's world; why was he surprised? Ed clamped his mouth shut and tried to appear nonchalant.

"My, what a relief," sighed the queen.

"Have the Heartless been showing up again lately, your Majesty?" Goofy asked with concern. "'Cos I've never seen so many here before."

"No, they're usually quite sparse here at the castle," she replied. "But, we were having a town meeting today." She gestured at the huge doors, where the smaller cut-out door was still partly open. Inside, the audience room was filled with people (Or, animal-people, anyway) chatting amougnst themselves while they waited for their queen to return and resume the meeting.

"Perhaps the large gathering of hearts in one place attracted them," Queen Minnie continued. "Thank goodness you all showed up when you did, or we would have been in big trouble. So you have my graditude and--oh!" Her eyes finally spotted the two new faces. "Who are your friends?"

"Uh, that's Ed and the one in the armor is his brother, Al," Sora answered, jerking his thumb back in their direction respectively.

Al stepped forward. "It's, uh, a pleasure to meet you, your Majesty," he said, with a somewhat awkward bow. He then turned his head to Edward, motioning for him to introduce himself as well.

But Ed just crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, looking bored. Al silently groaned. "Brother," he hissed. Ed sighed and shook his head, then finally stepped forward, throwing Al an 'are-you-happy-now?' look.

"Er, hi," he said to the queen, who smiled politely in return. "S'nice to meet ya, ma'am." He bent over a bit, not to bow but so that he could hold out his hand. The queen chuckled and shook it.

Well, at least he wasn't being completely rude now. It was enough to satisfy Al, anyway. Donald, on the other hand, was outraged.

"Hey!" he squawked, "She's the queen; show some respect!"

"She's not _my_ queen," Ed retorted, straighting back up. "No offense or anything, but I'm just saying. I don't have to bow down to anyone."

Donald looked ready to lash out a response, but Queen Minnie held up her hand, a simple gesture that instantly made Donald shut his mouth. (He did, however, still grumble.) "That's perfectly fine," she said. "He's right, after all. Besides, we're all friends here and friends do not have to be so formal with each other."

Sora grinned when he noticed how Ed looked surprised and touched at the same time. He quickly regained his bored posture, but Sora knew that he had silently decided that he liked this queen. When it came to Queen Minnie, there were few who didn't.

"Well, I still think he needs to learn some manners," Donald announced. He just had to have the last word, after all. "That's no way to treat a lady, especially one of high stature."

"Funny _you _should mention that."

Everyone turned to the door of the audience room, where a duck in a purple gown was now standing, white-feathered arms placed on her hips, suggesting that she was slightly irritated.

"D-Daisy!" Donald began backing up, his head moving side to side, trying to locate the nearest exit. Oh, sure, he loved Daisy to pieces. But that didn't mean he wanted to be torn to pieces himself, because, despite her currently calm disoposition, she had That Look in her eye. And That Look could only mean one thing: Donald was in trouble. "H-Hi, sweety. How've you been?" he sputtered, under the glare of That Look. Now, should he slide into the library or make a run back to the courtyard?

"Lonely," she snapped. "Ever since you went off to save the worlds, you've been completely ignoring me. I mean, I know you're real busy and eveything, but that's no excuse to neglect me! You can stop by now and then and at least say hello, can't you? Is it really that much to ask?"

Donald ceased his plans to escape and bowed his head. "Oh, Daisy, I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to make it up you."

"Well, we got some free time now," Sora said with obvious glee, "So why don't you two go and catch up?"

"Why, that's a wonderful idea!" Daisy exclaimed, and she reached out and grabbed Donald by the arm, who looked a little shell-shocked. "Don't worry now, I'll make sure to give him back. After some quality time together! Ta-ta!"

A helpless Donald let himself be dragged down the hallway, causing everyone to chuckle.

"Well now, I suppose it's time I returned to the meeting. Is there anything you boys need?"

"Actually, your Majesty, is it all right if we use your library for a little bit?" asked Sora. "We kinda mentioned it to Ed, and now he really wants to see it."

"Of course you can," replied the Queen. "Make yourselves at home."

"Thank you, ma'am," Ed said with all sincerity. Then, when the Queen headed back to the audience chamber and they started down the hall, he said to Sora, "And while we're enjoying this library, _you _better explain a few things to us as well, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sora sighed. "I guess we have to tell you now."

"Damn straight!" Ed threw his head back and shouted to his brother, who was lagging behind. "Come on, Al! Spikey is going to let us in on this big secret of his!"

"It's not a big secret," muttered Sora, his left eye twitching, "And stop calling me Spikey."

"Uh, go on ahead!" Al shouted back. "I'll be there in a second!"

"Whatever," replied his brother as he, Sora, and Goofy disappeared through the door that led into the library. Al quickly turned and managed to tap the Queen's shoulder before she went back into the audience room.

"Um, your Majesty?" he asked. There was something on his mind and he was hoping the Queen might know something about it. He didn't know who else to ask.

She stopped and turned back to around to face him. "Yes Al?"

"I was wondering...does a girl named Iza live here, in your kingdom maybe? Brown hair, purple eyes, and, um...human, I think."

"Iza?" echoed Queen Minnie, and Al nodded. "Iza. Hmm. No, I'm sorry, but I don't think I know anyone by that name or description."

"Oh. I see."

"Are you looking for this girl?" she asked.

"Not...exactly." It was more like trying to find out if she really existed or not. Strange girls who sink into the ground aren't exactly common. So how could Al be sure that she was even real? Maybe he just imagined the whole thing. "Um, well, thanks anyways. I guess I better get going. Sorry to hold you up, your Majesty."

"It's no problem," she said sweetly. "See you later."

--------

The library was small, bright, and abstract looking. A lot different than what Ed was used to. Still, it had a very interesting collection of books. Ed was casually flipping through one while Sora nabbed the only available chair and Goofy leaned against the wall. All was quiet for a moment, then Al entered, softly closing the door behind him. Ed snapped his book shut and replaced it on its shelf.

"All right," said Ed, signaling for them to start, "A bunch of weird, black shadow-things attacked us out of nowhere. So I want to know what they are and why they did that."

"Those were the Heartless," answered Sora, resting his arms on the desk in front of him. He might as well get comfortable; this could take a while.

"What do you mean by Heartless?" asked Al. "Are they really cruel or something?"

"No, I mean they actually don't have hearts," he replied.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. They have to have hearts. Otherwise they'd be dead. Or do they not have blood either?"

"Well, I guess they don't," said Sora. "And besides, I wasn't refering to a blood-pumping organ, although they probably lack that too..."

"When we say heart," Goofy quickly cut in, seeing how Ed looked frustratedly confused, "When mean another kind of heart. It's made up of light and dark, and it's kinda like your inner essence, the thing that makes you you."

"Oh," said Al, who starting to understand what they were getting at. "You mean the soul?"

"Sorta," shrugged Sora. "Same idea, pretty much."

"Okay, so these things don't have "hearts"," said Ed, making finger quotations in the air on the last word. "Why not?"

Sora grimaced. Explaining this to them would take forever, especially since they were scientists of sorts, plus the fact that Ed was particularly skeptical and wouldn't easily believe what they told him without solid evidence. Sora didn't think it was worth going to the trouble anyway, since soon (hopefully) they would be returning to their own world, where it seemed the Heartless hadn't reached.

Pointing this out wouldn't help, though. Sora could already tell that the Elric Brothers were the kind of people who didn't get curious and then forget about it. If they got curious, they wouldn't stop until that curiousty was satisfied. If they were cats, they would have lost all nine lives by now.

Sora sighed; there was no way out of this. A lot of arguing, miscommuncation, and disbelief was soon to follow.

"Maybe I can of some assistance," someone said. Sora glanced down; standing on the desk was none other than Jiminy Cricket, fairy-appointed conscience and part-time recorder. In his tiny hands was the journal, which held all the information they had gathered throughout their journey so far.

"What the hell is that?" Ed pointed.

"Our journal," Sora answered, although Ed had been pointing at Jiminy, not the book. Sora plucked the book from the cricket's hands (much to his relief, as it was much bigger than him and therefore, not so easy to hold) and handed it over to Edward. "Read it. It will probably explain things way better than I can."

Ed obliged, sitting on the checkered floor next to his brother so that they could both sit there and read it over. Jiminy had made a good call; the Elrics could more easily believe something if it was written down in a book. What's more, there were reports in there too, written by someone named Ansem. They went into detail about hearts, worlds, and the Heartless, and it made it all seem much more scientific, and therefore, believable. Then they flipped through the bestiary, examining all the different kinds of Heartless.

Then the two came across another bestiary, yet the creatures in this one weren't Heartless, but white and slightly more humanoid things.

"What are these ones?" asked Ed. Sora got up and looked over his shoulder, taking a quick glance to see what page they were on.

"Oh. Those are the Nobodies," he said. "When someone loses their heart, not only do they become a Heartless, but they create a Nobody too. Their Nobody is kinda like half of them, but they also lack hearts."

"I don't think I'm getting it," said Ed with a frown. Sora snatched up the journal from their hands and began flipping through the pages. He stopped, apparently getting to what he was looking for, then gave it back.

"Read that," he said, pointing to the first page of that section. It was labeled 'Secret Ansem Reports'. "It explains the Nobodies. We don't have all of those reports yet, though, so if you still have any questions, me and Goofy will try to answer them. Although honestly, we don't know everything about the Nobodies ourselves."

"Right," Ed said, and he and his brother began to read. These reports were just as detailed as the other set, but it somehow felt different. Like someone else wrote them, even though the author's name was the same. And, as Sora said, some of the reports were missing, leaving a few blanks here and there.

But they got the gist of it: When someone loses their heart, their heart gets swallowed up in darkness and whatever's left of them becomes a Heartless. The Heartless in turn search for their missing hearts. But since it's lost to the darkness, they'll never find it. Instead, they mindlessly attack other people, attracted to the light of their hearts. In the end, they just make more Heartless.

The Nobodies were slightly more confusing. According to the journal, when a Heartless is created, so is a Nobody. But even though they don't have hearts, they're not the same as the Heartless. They're smarter and retain a more humaniod form, and some, apparently, have actual human bodies that are similar to their orignal ones. However, they lack emotions and true existance. The Nobodies desire wholeness as well as hearts, since they are only half a being. This, along with the fact that they retain their memories as a whole being, sets them apart them apart from the Heartless.

Edward longed for a pen and paper; he wanted to take notes. Even though none of this actually pretained to their world and their own journey, it was an interesting subject and required further studying.

Alphonse, on the other hand, was trying to come to a conclusion. What if that girl he met in the courtyard _was _real, and that black thing that swallowed her was some sort of Heartless-thing? The journal mentioned darkness a lot, and that portal seemed pretty dark to him. Then again, this whole darkness thing was puzzling, leaving him uncertain about what actually happened. He wanted to ask Sora about it, but decided against doing so right away. Al wanted to make sure he hadn't been hallucinating first, rather than create more confusion amoung everyone.

Jiminy Cricket bounced off the desk and collected the journal from the Elrics after they were finished with it. Then, after a quick tip of his hat, he and the journal disappeared to wherever it was they always went. The two brothers pulled themselves off the floor.

"There's one more thing I wanna know," Ed told Sora. "Earlier, during the fight, you were wielding some sort of gaint key."

"They Keyblade," Sora put in.

"Yeah, your book mentioned it. Big, special, key-hole sealing weapon, blah, blah, blah. I know what it is now. What I want to know is what you're up to that requires a weapon like that."

"Brother, that's really not our business," Al said. Besides, they never told the trio about what _they _were what up to, back on their own world.

"I'm just wondering," Ed said in his defense. "Geez."

"It's all right," said Sora. "I don't mind. See, orignally I used the Keyblade to fight off the Heartless and seal the hearts of worlds, so they'd be safe. Now I'm using it not only to fight the Heartless, but Organization XIII. They're a group of very strong Nobodies who can control the lesser Nobodies. We're not sure what they're up to, exactly, but they've attacked us before. I'm also looking for some friends of mine, and I think the Organization captured one of them. And I have to get her back," he added, his latter words sounding rueful compared to his normal, cheery self. Ed let the subject go.

"Don't worry, Sora," said Goofy. "We'll save Kairi _and_ we'll find Riku and the King! It'll all be okay."

Sora smiled, instantly perking back up. "Yeah, I know. So what are we waiting for? Let's grab Donald and go! Oh," he turned to the Elrics and added teasingly, "We have to get rid of these two, first, don't we?"

**--TBC--**

**

* * *

A/N:** Okay, I've made a mistake. In the last chapter, Iza reported that Roxas hadn't made contact with Sora yet. WRONG! Apparently, Roxas rejoined with Sora at the begining of the game, as opposed to near the end (which is what I had thought). But. Oh well. In the end, it doesn't really matter, yeah?

By the way, I've pitched the orignal plot-line out the window and am replacing it with something a bit more...I dunno. Complicated? Risky? Better? Well, whatever the outcome may be, I'm putting all the responsibility of it on you readers. Why? Because it's all your fault! All those wonderful reviews are giving me a big head! Now I feel confident enough to add plot-twists and the like, thinking I can actually get away with it! So, yes, if this story goes down the drain, I blame you guys. On the other hand, if the story turns out exceeding well, I'm going to take all the credit for it! MUHAHAHA!xD Kidding. And please, do keep reviewing. It makes me feel all special inside...lol.

**(Random Extra!)(Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do?)**

_Hey, have you ever wondered...before Pinnochio became a real boy, what did he do without Jiminy, whowas offrecording Sora's journey? _

**Police:** _Chzzt_ -speaks into radio- This is officer Johnson, requesting back-up. Pinnochio, aka the Wooden Bandit, has been surrounded, but currently is armed and dangerous. Repeat, target is armed. Send back-up immediately!

**Pinnochio:** You'll never take me alive, coppers! -fires pistol-

**Police:** -shouts in megaphone- We have you surrounded! Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air!

**Pinnochio:** Never! Besides, your bullets cannot hurt me, for I am made of wood! Hahaha!

**Police:** We have flamethrowers!

**Pinnochio:** ...oh shit.

_Later, in court..._

**Judge:** Pinnochio, you have been charged of theif, larceny, endangerment of others,resist of arrest,and building illegal campfires inside an endangered species of whale. How do you plead?

**Pinnochio:** Not guilty! -nose grows ten feet- God dammit! All right, all right! I did it, see! And I'd do it again too!

**Judge:** Take him away!

**Gepetto:** -sniff- Oh, Pinnochio, if you only you had a conscience...

_Later, elsewhere..._

**Jiminy Cricket:** -on his cell phone- Oh, hi Blue Fairy! How's it going?

**Jiminy:** ...what do you mean, I'm fired?

**(Fin!)**


	10. The Chapter That Lacks an Actual Title

**(10) The Chapter That Lacks an Actual Title**

"Well?" Sora asked. "What's the verdict?"

Chip and Dale leaned in together and flipped through sereval pages on Dale's clipboard, tapping it here and there and going "hmmm" a lot, as if they were just now figuring everything out. Finally, they both raised their tiny heads and said, "It's _definitely_ going to take a few days."

"A week at the most," added Chip. "See, we have to reconfigure all the data that was stored in your gummi ship's mainframe and then rewrite it all as coordinates for each and every world you've ever visited. Then we have to take coordinate data and download it into the IPS, which still needs to be built. So obviously, doing all that is going to take some time."

"Can't you just download the coordinates to their world alone, and then get the rest of it later?" asked Sora. Really, that's all they needed anyway. He knew how to get to all the other worlds without a positioning system. But they had only been to the Elrics' world once, and by accident no less, so yeah, they did need _those_ directions. But only those.

"We could," piped Dale, "But that itself would take even longer, because then we'd hafta sort through all that data manulally and seperate it from the rest. Doing it all once saves time."

"Oh. I see." Sora glanced behind his shoulder and said, "Guess you two are stuck with us for a little bit longer. Sorry."

"That's all right," Al said hurriedly. "I mean, it's not your fault. _We're _the ones who snuck on your ship."

"Gee, Al, keep reminding them, while don't ya?" Ed rolled his eyes. Where on earth did his brother get his overly-good manners from? It was probably from their mother; her politeness must have rubbed off on Al. He definitely didn't get it from Ed, that's for sure.

"Where we going now?" Goofy wondered as the mismatched group made their way onto the gummi ship. Sora gave this some thought.

"I guess we could head to Twilight Town," he shrugged. "Check up on things there." And ask if anyone had seen Kairi. That's where she was last spotted. Of course, if the Organization really had kidnapped her, well...Sora wouldn't know where to look. But Twilight Town seemed almost connected to the Nobodies, so even Kairi wasn't there, he could probably find some clues, in the very least.

"Are you guys sure you want to tag along?" he the Elrics one more time. "Being with us might be...dangerous. And there's no need to get you two involved with our problems. So we won't make you come. You could probably stay here and wait, if ya want..."

Ed and Al looked at each other first, then looked at Sora and said together, "We're going!"

Yes, they had other things they needed to be doing, but given the current circumstances, there wasn't much they could do about it. If they were going to be stuck on some world other than their own, well then, they might as well take advantage of it. It's not everyday that you get to go world-hopping with a pair of talking animals and a key-wielding hero, after all.

--------

And so they went, everyone piling into the gummi ship and taking off for Twilight Town. Chip and Dale promised to let them know when the IPS was fully operational. Although Ed and Al were forced to sit on the floor, since the ship only had three seats, the ride was short and they made it there without being attacked by Heartless ships.

After landing and exiting the ship, the brothers examined this new world. Basked in the golden light of the slowly setting sun, Twilight Town had a sleepy and cozy feel to it. It looked much more normal compared to the castle on the previous world, and the people here were normal too. It was foreign and yet familair in its set-up, giving the Elrics something to work with.

The group had entered the part of town called the Sandlot now. It was empty but seemed only reccently so, as there was some litter on the ground and foot-steps were still freshly imprinted on the sand. A struggle match must have just ended, right before they arrived. An unerased chalkboard standing in one corner confirmed this, the standings still up and ultimately proclaiming someone named 'Seifer' as the winner.

Sora took a minute to read the chalkboard, then, using a finger, wiped off the part where Seifer's name was written and rewrote, slapdashedly, 'Sora' in its place.

"All right, now that that's taken care of, let's get down to business," he said with a grin, dusting the chalk off his hands. "I'm heading up to Hayner's and his friends' hangout to see if they're there. To say hello and ask about Kairi again."

"Well, you and Goofy can go on ahead," said Donald. "Cause me and the stow aways need to have a little talk."

"About what?" everyone else happened to ask at the exact same time. Sora and Goofy were merely curious, while the Elrics were wondering if they should be worried.

"Magic," Donald said, which was rather unexpected. Sora and Goofy figured out what he was up to though, by that. The Elric brothers, on the other hand, still looked very confused. Donald grinned, obviously smug at the notion that he knew something they didn't. Then he winked at his companions and said, "It's about time I taught them a lesson."

"You don't mean," Sora gasped, playing along, "You're going to do _that?_"

"What do you mean?" asked Ed, trying not to sound worried. "What's he going to do?"

Sora only shook his head. "He's going to do it. He's going to do _that thing_." Then he and Goofy turned and left them, without so much as a parting word, letting the suspense build up.

"What thing?" they heard Ed and his brother cry as out they disappeared around the corner.

Once they were out of sight, the two broke up into laughter.

Things were not as laidback as it seemed, however. In the shadows, someone was watching everything that had just proceeded, comitting every word and every detail into memory.

After all, _nobody_ had to keep tabs on the Keyblade master. And _nobody_ was _always_ watching them...

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**A/N: **Okay, so the ruler button isn't working... -grumblegrumble- Moving on...sorry this chapter is so short, lacks a name, and took so long to get posted. Things have been hetic here in the real world. School's starting up again, making me realize what I've got done this summer: nothing. With barely a week until D-day, I have to go shopping, get school supplies, oh, and write a three page report on a book I haven't even read yet. Zana's my name, procrastination's my game. ;

In other news...guess what? I WON THE CONTEST! Oh, sure, only four other people got their story in on time, but still. This one was the best outta five. -cries tears of joy- I'm so happy! -sniff- Also, happy (late) birthday to Fullmetal Shinobi, who also happens to be my top reviewer and thusly gets 100 BONUS POINTS!

xD Yes, I'm slightly hyper tonight. BOO-YAA! Hyper and wiggy.

**(Random Extra!)(WTF!)**

**Ed: **Why doesn't this chapter have a title?

**Zana**: My brain is fried. I couldn't think of anything.

**Ed:** Did you even try to come up with something?

**Zana:** ...not..really.

**Ed:** Lazy ass. The chapter itself is lame too. It's way short and not very exciting...

**Zana:** Just like you.

**Ed:** -vein pops on forehead- WHAT DID YOU SAY?

**Zana:** Eep! -runs away-

**Zana:** -to sunny Mexico- Ahh...

**Everyone else:** Wft?

**(Fin!)**

Like I said...fried brain...cannot write anything deccent as of late...GAH! It's school, I tell you! Hasn't even started yet and it's already stressing me out! Well, pshaw. R&Rkaithanxbai.


	11. Bippity Boppity BOOM!

**A/N: **Okay, so I haven't updated this is awhile, huh? Please don't hate me. I can explain. IT'S THE GOVERNMENT'S FAULT! No, really, this time it is! See, there's this little thing called school that the government is so hell bent on making minors attend...yeah. Throw that in with work and there ya go. Sorry to any devoted readers for making you wait so long.

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**(11) Bippity Boppity BOOM!**

"Now, just stand there and be still," Donald instructed the Elric Brothers. They obeyed, if somewhat reluctantly, and watched nervously as Donald circled them, tapping his chin and going "hmm" every now and then. He had his staff out, but what for, they didn't know. In fact, they had no idea what he was up to right now. Sora and Goofy had abandoned them with a short-tempered, magic wielding duck and no explanation.

"Oh boy!" Donald suddenly exclaimed. "I _am _right! Ha! I must be getting better at this!"

"At what?" Ed inquired, starting to feel annoyed that a stupid duck was making him nervous. And not telling them anything. And bossing them around. Just who did he think he was, the Fuhrer?

"Finding potential," said Donald, smirking mischievously.

"Potential what, exactly?" Al asked, a bit more politely than his brother.

"Targets!" When the two boys blanched (okay, Ed blanched. Al wasn't exactly capable) Donald burst into laughter, signaling that he had been joking and that the Elrics fell for it. Which did not sit very well with Edward.

"Enough with the teasing, already!" he barked. "It's getting old. Just get on with whatever you're supposed to be doing."

"Fine, fine," Donald rasped, suppressing his laughs. When he got them under control, he turned to them and raised his staff.

"H-Hey!" Ed sputtered, "I thought you were joking!"

Donald chuckled (tormenting these two was immensely amusing), then muttered something under his breath. A burst of bright white light exploded from the top of his staff, momentarily blinding Ed and Al as the rays shot through them.

Ed, hands up in front of his face (to ward off the blow _and _protect his eye sight), cracked open an eye. He looked down at himself and realized that whatever magic Donald had just tossed at them, it didn't blow them to bits. In fact, it didn't hurt at all. He hadn't felt a thing. It seemed the same went for his younger brother, who was also still intact.

Ed heaved a sigh of relief. It's not like they had anything to worry about, though. What reasons would _Donald Duck_ have to obliterate them? Thinking about it now, both brothers realized how ridiculous the notion had been.

But still...if Donald's spell wasn't a harmful one, then what was it?

"That should do it," Donald was saying, "Although I don't know how long it'll last. You're obviously not natural magic users, like me, but there was enough potential..."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up!" Ed stared down at him. "Are you saying that we can use magic now?"

"Yeah, but probably only for a little bit. And I'll have to lend you some spells–"

"Are you for real?" Al interrupted excitedly. "How? What did you do?"

"I saw that you two had magical potential inside you, so I used _my _magic to un-tap it," Donald explained. "This way, you'll be able to defend yourself against any Heartless or Nobodies if they attack again."

The two brothers looked at each other. They had _magical _potential? Just a few days ago, neither of them would have believed a word of it. They grew up with the laws science and alchemy, not fairy tales.

But now, one giant key-wielding hero, two humanoid animals, a horde of dark, heart-lacking monsters, and multiple worlds later, the two could no longer questioned the possibility of magic existing. Really, they could no longer question the possibility _anything. _The reality they once knew now shattered, neither boy (yes, even Ed) could honestly say what was possible or not. They had to accept the fact that nothing was impossible, magic included.

That being said, with their new outlook on reality, a talking duck giving them magical powers was a very excitable thing instead of something to be skeptical about. Of course, they would eventually attempt to study it, try to figure out a method or science to it as was their nature, but for the time being, the prospect of actually _using _magic was their sole desire. However, Ed, trying to stay unimpressed rather than giddy, first gave Donald an annoyed look and asked him what right he had to go zapping them up magical powers without their consent.

"First of all, I didn't zap you powers!" Donald squawked, offended that he was being scolded rather than thanked. "Like I said, you both had the potential to use magic inside you, and all I did was bring that out. And besides, I'm doing you favor! Or do you like being completely helpless?"

"We're not helpless!" Ed shouted, and he would have been more than happy to demonstrate to Donald how un-helpless he was without magic, or alchemy even. Fortunately, Al grabbed him and held him back while Donald sneered at him. (The problem with these two, Al realized, was that they shared similar personality traits, which therefore caused conflict. Same sides repel, after all.)

After much squabbling and some apologizing, wizard and alchemist finally agreed to a truce, as proposed by Al, and got down to business. According to Donald, having the potential to use magic wasn't enough; you needed proper training, a great amount of focus and control, and of course, natural ability. That last one being something of a problem to the Elrics, who had never used magic before in their lives, it was decided that Donald would have to lend them some of his spells and give them a quick tutorial on the basics.

"Let's start with offensive magic," Donald said. After checking to make sure that the Sandlot was still empty and that the Elric Brothers were standing out of the strike zone, Donald waved his staff and shouted out the spell to give them a brief demonstration on how offensive magic worked. There were three levels of magical strength, he explained to them, each level more powerful than the last. He showed them, using 'fire', 'fira', then finally 'firaga' as an example, the burst of flames getting larger and more impressive respectively.

While watching Donald demonstrate how each spell worked, Edward recalled, back on Amestris, when Sora had shocked him to break up his and Donald's fight. What he had mistaken for alchemy, he knew now, was actually magic. Realizing this was slightly disappointing, because it meant that Sora _didn't _have a Philosopher's Stone after all. (Then again, after ransacking their gummi ship's store room and finding another world rather than any alchemical devices, Ed had pretty much given up on that idea anyway.)

Donald was saying something now, so Ed tuned back in and listened.

"So you'll have to learn one spell at a time," he was saying. "Once you master it I'll teach you another one."

"Thunder!" Ed immediately blurted out. "I wanna learn the thunder one first!" Because the first thing that came to his mind was, '_So I can give Spikey a taste of his own medicine.'_

Not that he really meant that. It was impulse thought. Honest...

So Donald took him through the steps. There was more to magic, it turned out, than just waving a wand around and saying words. It was much, much harder than that. After ten tries and not getting even a little spark, Edward became frustrated.

"Do I need a stick like yours or something?" he asked, exasperated.

Donald shook his head. "Staff are good for channeling magic, and that makes it easier to hit your target, and some can boost your power. But you don't need one to do magic."

"But–" Ed began.

"No buts!" Donald, revealing another use for a staff, took his and smacked Ed in the leg with it. (Despite Ed's diminutive size, Donald still couldn't reach his head.) Ed winced, then glared at him. "You're not trying hard enough! Concentrate!"

"How I can concentrate when you keep bopping me with that thing?" Ed grumbled, but he did what his new teacher told him to. He closed his eyes and shut his mind from outside noises and concentrated. An thought breezed through his mind: _maybe if I pretend I'm doing alchemy..._

Alchemy. Yeah, he was good at alchemy. A friggin' prodigy. If he could perform alchemy so well, then magic shouldn't be any different! They were basically the same thing! (Except not really.)

Ed's eyes flicked open, flashing golden irises, and he clapped his hands together, letting the familiar gesture guide his magic.

A blue bolt of lightning shot down to the middle of the Sandlot, sparks and sand splaying out like a fountain, blue light flashing through the area then leaving as quickly as it came.

Donald and Alphonse stared in amazement while Ed was grinning ear to ear.

"Hey, teacher, how was that?" he asked Donald, smugness in his voice as clear as the smug grin on his face.

For a moment, Donald said nothing. Ed wondered if he was speechless at seeing such an amazing skill from someone who never used magic before. Pfft, natural ability. Ed didn't need that; he was good at everything he did, regardless.

"Wow," Donald finally said, that single word inflating Ed's ego larger than a hot air balloon.

"Amazing, huh?" he said, in that sort nonchalant way that really wasn't nonchalant, and everyone knew it, but people do it anyway when they have to at least pretend to modest.

"Yeah," Donald agreed. "It is amazing. I've never seen such a puny thunder spell like that before in my life!"

Donald had just took a giant thumbtack to Ed's ego. It popped, deflated, and released a lot of hot air. It was a good thing his younger brother was bigger than him. They repeated the scene from earlier, Ed twisting and kicking to break free of Al's grasp so he could strangle Donald, who just laughed at him.

"I'm just messing with you, geez!" Donald rasped when Ed still hadn't cooled down. The boy made a face that was a mixture of glaring and pouting, but this was only a sign that meant he was calm (yet still slightly peeved) again. Al put him down.

"You just need to practice more," advised Donald. "But for now, let's let the big guy try one."

"Um..." said Al.

-------

On a rooftop of one of the buildings that blocked in the Sandlot, a certain girl stifled a laugh and slid back down behind the wall as not to be seen. Watching the antics of the duck and the two boys from Amestris was so much more fun than watching Sora.

Oh, Iza had done her job first, of course. Sora and his companion talked to some the town kids about that Princess of his, the one Axel kidnaped. If the Organization didn't know Axel's current whereabouts, then no one else did either, so Sora was wasting his time. The locals didn't have any news about Kairi; they hadn't seen her once since that day. Sora continued to chat them, but Iza, who was listening in of course, heard nothing of importance. It was just small talk among casual friends.

Finished with today's report on the Keyblade master, she should have returned directly to HQ. But she figured, since she was done so quickly, why not go and check on the rest of Sora's party? They were of some importance, since they were his companions. She might as well keep tabs on them too.

Which is why she was on the rooftops, viewing the show below her, the Elrics attempting to perform magic with hilarious results. These two newcomers were of interest to Iza as well, but not the for same reasons as Sora was. And the one in the armor, Alphonse, had especially caught her curiosity. He was different, different from everything else.

It made her wonder.

**--TBC--**

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**A/N:** Guess what? The divider bar still ain't working! xP Grr. Whatever. Anyway.

Ed and Al doing magic? What madness is this, you ask? Well, look. I took thier alchemy away, so they needed to be able to do _something_. Okay? Just...go with it. (I'm going to saying that a lot pretty soon, lol.) More about their magic will be explained later, I swear. You dig? Good.

Sorry, but no random extras this chapter. So busy, no time. Also, there's a lot more I wanted to say, but I'll save m ramblings for the next chapter. Right now, though, I will tell you FMA fans to keep a out look for the FMA movie coming out this September:D Finally, they're bringing it to the States! Oh yesh, it is going to rock so hard. The movie hits theaters for a short time during the first of the month, and you can also buy the DVD of it on September 26. I'm way excited, even though I already know what happens. (I cheated. A few months ago, I read a summary of it someone wrote on the 'Net when they saw it in Japan. Shoulda known it come out here. Gah!) Although this story has nothing to do with the moive, I still wanted to let any unaware fanatics know, so we can freak out in excitement together! xD YAY!

Hoping No One Throws Bricks My Way,

Zana


	12. Black and White

**(12) Black and White**

A thin, flimsy bolt of lightning sparked a few inches in front of them, then sizzled out in sad, pathetic sort of way.

Donald blinked, then turned to glance at Edward and said, "What I said before, I take it back. Because _that_ was the most puniest thunder spell I've ever seen in my life!"

If Al hadn't had a helmet for a head, he might have been blushing with embarrassment. It was still obvious, however, and Donald took pity on him.

"Ehh, kid, try this one instead," Donald said, getting an idea and giving him a quick run-down on a different kind of spell.

Al gave it a try. He said the spell, went through the motions, and (surprisingly) voila! He cast cure.

Encouraged by this, Donald went ahead and taught him more support magic, or as he called it, white magic. Cure, reflect, panacea, protect...after some practicing, Al had easily mastered them all.

Donald was clearly impressed. Edward, who hadn't even mastered one spell yet, was just plain dumbstruck.

"Well, whaddaya know," said Donald after the Elric Brothers were finished with their very first magic lesson, "One's white, one's black. It's more useful when you can do both kinds, like me and Sora do, but as long as you work together, you should be fine."

"Eh heh heh," Al snickered. His older brother had, admittedly, been slightly more proficient at alchemy than he had. But with magic, it appeared to be the other way around. Al had mastered several spells today, while Ed had just barely got the thunder spell down pat and was mistakenly attempting to learn fire. (His eye brows came close to being singed several times.) Given the circumstances, Al just couldn't help to be a little smug.

Ed could feel this smug pride radiating out from his brother, and not to mention the quiet snickering. He narrowed his eyes at Al, a look of pure sibling jealousy; the kind that was brief, harmless, and instantly denied by the instigator.

"Shut up Al," he snorted, "Or I"ll zap you to pieces. Don't think that I won't..."

"Eh heh heh," Al replied, "I'll just reflect them back at you with my awesome, better-than-black-magic white magic."

"That tears it!" Ed shouted, clapping his hands together.

A short game of "Dodge the Thunder" ensued.

"All right, all right, cut it out you two!" Donald shouted, while frantically trying to avoid the stray bolts that apparently seemed attracted to him. (In fact, most of the bolts _were _hitting him as opposed to Al. That short kid really needed to work on his aim.) The quarrel was trivial, Al laughing and running around enjoying himself while his short-tempered brother chased after him, firing bolt after bolt in his direction but not very seriously.

Cute, sure, but not worth getting electrocuted for. Donald quickly cast a gravity spell to stop them. "I said, cut it out! Stop wasting your magic on petty sibling rivalry! Save it for a real enemy!"

As if on cue, a Shadow melted up from the ground and looked at the three curiously. Another appeared, and then another...until there was a good sized horde of them.

Ed grinned like a lunatic at the sight. "So, Al, what are _you_ gonna do to them?" he said laughingly as the heartless approached. "_Heal them to death_?"

"Hey, that's an oxymoron," Al pointed out before taking offense at the remark. Not that it made any difference, because Ed was already diving through the mass of Heartless, lightning flashing off where ever he went.

None of the Heartless even made it to Donald or Al. Within just a minute, all of them were destroyed by a thunder-happy Ed.

Scorch marks patterned the ground where his bolts had hit and the sandlot itself looked like a crater. Standing in the center of it, Ed turned around and flashed them a thumbs up sign, a full grin on his face.

"I just totally kicked some ass here!" he exclaimed, full of pride and excitement. He pumped a fist into the air.

And then he promptly collapsed to the ground.

"Brother!" Al cried out, rushing to his side. Donald just groaned and shook his head.

"Ed! Ed!" Al grabbed his brother's shoulders and shook him. "Are you okay?"

"Not with you shaking me," he said irritably, batting Al away. Without Al propping him up, though, he fell back onto the ground. "Ow."

Donald made his way up to them, muttering to himself under his breath and clearly annoyed. Once he was looming over Edward, he took his staff and smacked him square in the head unmercifully.

"OW! What the hell was that for!"

"For being an idiot!" Donald spat at him. "Just what did you think you were doing?"

"Fighting the bad guys! Why, is that a crime?" Ed rubbed his head and glared at the duck. What was his problem? Ed wanted to get up; he hated being looked down upon, especially by someone who was actually shorter than him. But when he went to sit up, he found himself suddenly too weak to do so. A wave of weariness hit him, making him feel as tired as if he had just run a marathon.

He sighed and gave up, letting himself fall back into the sandlot once again. At least it was soft. He stared past Al's and Donald's faces and into the blue, cloudless sky instead. His eye lids started to droop, despite himself. "Okay then," he said dejectedly, "What did I do wrong this time?"

"You exhausted all of your magic power all at once," Donald explained, taking a less harsher tone now. "You used it recklessly on weak Heartless, which was just plain stupid of you. Also, your body isn't used to channeling magic, so it probably drained some of your physical energy too. Tsk tsk," Donald wagged a finger at him, "You shouldn't have been so careless. Magic has a limit, you know."

"Does this mean Ed can't use magic anymore?" asked Al, sitting himself on the ground next to where his brother lay.

"Not until I get him some ether, he can't." Donald patted his coat, but then he remembered that Goofy had most of their inventory with him, since he had big pockets. Donald did manage to come across a few munny, though, leftover from the Heartless. "All right, you two stay put. I'll be right back. Don't move and don't do anything stupid!" He made sure to stress that last one, then headed off down an alley to another part of town.

"Well, today's been interesting," piped Al as Donald left them.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ed thrust out his arm. "Now help me up."

-------

The two sat there, back to back (since Ed was still too weak to sit up on his own) and waited. No more Heartless appeared. No people appeared either, for that matter. Sora and Goofy were still off doing whatever it was they were doing, and Donald seemed to be taking his time getting that ether-thing or whatever it was. It was only them, the empty sandlot, and something shiny glittering in the middle of the lot, almost beckoningly...

"I wonder what that is," said Al.

"Yeah, me too. Wasn't their before, I'm sure," replied his brother.

"Huh."

There was a pause in conversation as they both stared at the glistening object in silence. Then:

"Gah, just go and get it, Al!"

"Um...okay." Al got up, slowly so that Ed could keep his balance and remain upright, then ambled over to the unknown object. He bent over and scooped it up, turning it over in his big hands and examining it.

"It's some kind of crystal!" he shouted to Ed, waving the blue rock in the air to show him.

"Well, bring it here so I can see!" Ed shouted back.

Al crossed the lot and handed over the crystal to Ed. It was a transparent blue color, bright, and about the size of his palm. Ed held it up to his eye and looked through it at his younger brother, who saw a larger version of Ed's eye ball, magnified and blinking at him.

"Pretty," Ed mumbled, lowering the blue crystal so he could look at it with both eyes. "Bet it sell for a fortune," he added with a wicked grin.

"But where did it come from?" Al wanted to know.

Ed shrugged. "Who cares? Finders keepers, right? It wasn't there until after I defeated those Heartless, so maybe they dropped it or something."

"But Heartless steal hearts, not diamonds," Al pointed out. He sat back down on the sand to prop up Ed again, who was looking a little wobbly.

"Maybe they didn't steal it," Ed mused, resting against his brother's back. "Maybe they made it."

"_Made_ it?" Al asked incredulously.

"Yeah, like, maybe that's their waste product. Every living thing produces waste, you know, and they have to expel it sooner or later."

"Are you saying that crystal thing is a Heartless feces?"

"Could be. I mean, heart-lacking creatures made of pure darkness pooping out crystals...why not?"

"Ew. Ed, that's gross." Al shook his head.

Ed laughed. "Yeah, and unlikely too, but I just wanted to theorize." He dropped the "Heartless feces" to the ground in front of him and sighed, in a sort of tired way.

"Everything's so crazy now, huh?"

"Yeah," Al agreed. "But I have to admit, it's been kind of fun too."

"Sure, but...what about the Stone? We can't make any kind of progress with our quest if we're stranded here on some other world." Ed stared down at the crystal that lay in front of him. It shone brightly back up at him suggestively. A thought occurred to Ed.

"Unless..."

"Unless what?" Al prompted.

"Unless...unless a form of the Philosopher's Stone exists here too. I mean, you can't really rule out the possibility. If there are a bunch of different worlds, then chances are, there's got to be some type of instrument or object in one of them that can restore our original bodies, right?"

"Yeah, that makes sense," said Al excitedly, the idea catching on to him as well. "Or there isn't a Stone, there is at least magic. Maybe Donald knows a spell that change us back!"

Both boys were getting excited now. Maybe, possibly, when they returned to their own world, they would already have their original bodies back and wouldn't even have to bother anymore with that complicated mess they were involved with back home. Ed could quit the military, and they wouldn't be in constant danger all the time, and...well, they didn't think about what they would do after that. They were too caught up in their newest plan to think that far ahead.

"Now, if only that dumb duck would hurry his ass up," Ed grumbled, but in an ironically cheerful way. He was still incredibly tired, but his spirits were high.

Perhaps, for once, things would turn out okay.

**--TBC--**

* * *

**A/N: **I am ALIVE! o0; I'm just writing painstakingly slow. Sooooorrry.

Okay, so. I'll try to update this more often. No, really. I will. I was planning to add a chapter every month, to give me more time to write it...but then it wouldn't be finished until sometime next year. That, or each new chapter would be extremely long. So now I'm just gonna update it whenever I can, which means it will be inconsistent and probably not my best writing...but I'll _try_ my best. :cough:when it's convient:cough:

**(Random Extra!) (The SEPOEPWARP)**

**_This didn't work well in the first KH game, but they don't know that..._**

**Axel:** So, I've noticed that us Nobodies have a lot in common with you Homunucli, you know? So, maybe we should like, join forces or something.

**Lust:** Hmm.That's not a bad idea.

**Envy:** I'll do it, but only if I'm allowed to kill Ed! And get to appear in this fanfic!

**Axel:** Ed's that short kid, right?

_Somewhere, far away, poor Ed is sneezing his nose off and feeling full of dread for some unknown reason..._

**Envy:** Yeah.

**Axel:** Okay, sounds doable. So, whaddya say?

**Envy:** Red, you have yourself a deal!

**Wrath:** If we're gonna join forces, we need a cool alliance name.

**Axel:** The kid's got a point.

**Envy:** Okay, how about...the Super Evil Party of Evil People?

**Lust:** -rolls eyes-

**Axel:** That's good, except that none of us are really 'people'. Not in the technical sense.

**Envy:** Fine. The Super Evil Party of Evil People Who Aren't Really People.

**Axel: **Sweet.

**_And so, the the SEPOEPWARP was born. _**

**(TBC...?)**

R&R! Plzkthnxbai. (Zana, out.)


	13. Warnings and Scornings

**A/N: **All right, before I start this chapter, I have a little ranting to do. Feel free to skip this if you like. Unless your name is Zane.

Although I doubt Mr. Zane will ever see this, I still feel the need to adress a few things considering the review he left me.

First of all, no, I do not mind getting a negative review. By all means, if you think my work sucks eggs, go ahead and tell me so! I won't be upset! **As long as you explain why.** If you don't go into detail and explain you think my writing isn't good, then I consider that a useless flame. Constructive critism is wonderful, but flaming is not. How I am supposed to know what to improve on if all you say is 'dumb'?

Geez, Zane, throw a girl a bone here. You don't like my story? Fine. You think it's dumb? I can deal. But if that's all you have to say, then please, don't bother leaving a "review". If it doesn't help, I don't wanna see it. You're wasting your time AND mine.

By the way, you said only Square-Enix characters can crossover into Kingdom Hearts. While I don't understand the logic behind that one, I will tell you this: there is Fullmetal Alchemist video game (actually two, I think) out there and guess who made it? SQUARE-FREAKING-ENIX.

**Pwn'd.**

Okay, I'm finished. Sorry you other guys had to see this, but Flamer Zane didn't log in when he reviewed nor did he leave an e-mail adress (hmm, how convient) so I couldn't contact him personally. Also, I like having the last word. xD Again, my apologies. You can go back to your regularly scheduled fanfic now.

* * *

**(13) Warnings and Scornings**

He stared into the light blue liquid uncertainly. It seemed harmless enough; no strange odors reached his nose and there wasn't anything floating in it. In fact, it was just plain blue and wet, but Ed couldn't help to feel slightly questionable towards its nature. Ether, Donald had told him, was a potion that would help replenish his magic and regain his strength in the process.

But...was he supposed to drink it all? Or would that overdose him? Were there any side effects? It was a potion after all; what if it turned him into a frog?

"Today would be nice," Donald chipped at him. Ed swallowed a retort–he just was too tired to argue with the duck right now– and threw a questioning glance at his brother instead.

Al just shrugged his shoulders.

_Thanks a lot Al._ Ed sighed and held up the ether. _Well, here goes nothing._ He downed the whole bottle in one swig, swallowed it with a bitter expression on his face, then waited for warts, webbed feet, and a sudden urge for flies.

After a moment or two, however, he got to his feet and decided that the ether must have worked properly, seeing as he suddenly felt a lot better and was not an amphibian.

"Wow, fast-acting," he commented, stretching his arms out. He was full of energy once again. It felt nice.

"Of course it's fast-acting," said Donald. "If a magician is in the middle of a battle, he doesn't have time to wait for his magic to replenish itself."

"Are you saying my magic would've replenished itself after a while?" asked Ed, wondering if he could have been spared the doubtfulness of the ether.

Donald gave him a considering look, then replied, "Probably not, seeing as you're not a natural magician. Even if you were, it still would have taken too long. Anyway," he said, taking on the best authoritive tone he could manage with that scratchy voice of his, "No more magic until I say so. Obviously, you're not mature enough to handle the responsibility it entails."

"WHAT–"

"Um," Al said uneasily, while unintentionally cutting off Ed's protests, "Does that go for me too?"

Donald took only a few seconds to think this over, then said that Al could continue using his magic whenever he felt it was a necessary to, since he seemed to have a lot more common sense than his older brother.

Said older brother was feeling a bit miffed by then, but after his short yet embarrassing fainting spell from before, he didn't exactly mind laying off the magic for now. In fact, now that the excitement had come to a dead halt, he decided that he preferred alchemy anyhow and magic was just a shabby substitute for the time being.

He turned his attention to the blue crystal they had recently found and asked Donald what he knew of it.

"That's a mythril gem!" he exclaimed. "Oh boy!"

The Elric Brothers stared at him blankly. Donald sighed.

"It's a rare item used for synthesis," he explained tiredly, while silently wondering what was keeping Sora and Goofy; it was their turn to baby-sit now, gosh darn it!

At least explaining the synthesis process was keeping the brothers occupied, thus avoiding anymore magical disasters for the time being. Both boys were listening intently, although why they seemed so fascinated with the subject was beyond Donald. But he told them all about it: how Heartless and Nobodies sometimes drop certain stones or gems or shards and how the moogles use these things to make special items.

"Would there happen to be, oh I dunno...let's say a _red _stone, by any chance?" Edward asked, attempting to be subtle.

"Er, sure," Donald shrugged. Like he paid attention to that sort of thing.

Ed was grinning his 'I-have-a-really-good-idea' grin at Al. This actually made Al nervous, however, since he knew what that grin meant and he knew that Ed's good ideas weren't always as good as he thought they were. In fact, many of Ed's "good ideas" usually ended with "lots of trouble and/or chaos". His brother was smart, all right, but just because someone's intelligent doesn't necessarily mean they have common sense too.

"I have a really good idea, guys," he announced cheerfully (and predictably). "Instead of just standing around here waiting, while don't we spilt up and go searching for some these synthesis items, huh?"

Donald blinked and Al groaned.

"Explore the town, kick some Heartless butt, collect some items," he continued, "Come on. It'll be fun. Or something."

-------------

"Or something" was definitely how Al would've described it. Donald surprisingly agreed to this plan, but the way he kept rubbing his head suggested that he was not interested in synthesis item hunting at all, but merely had a headache and wanted to buy some free time away from them. He headed off in the same direction Sora and Goofy had left, probably hoping to run into his friends along the way. Before he left, Donald made sure to stress that neither of them (specifically, Ed) should rely too much on magic and that it should only be used in a tight situation, and also, that everyone would meet up back Sandlot in about an hour. With that, he left them, looking notably relieved as he did.

"Do you really think we'll find a verison of the Philosopher's Stone here, brother?" Al asked dubiously.

"Eh, I dunno. Can't hurt to look, though, right?" Ed smiled brightly, which Al found a little strange. Not that Ed was never optimistic before, but Al just couldn't help feeling somewhat unsure about this. Was Ed really eager to comb this world for the Stone, or did he just want an excuse to blow things up behind Donald's back?

"Don't worry," he said, almost as if he had read Al's mind. "I just want to check things out. Nothing serious and nothing dangerous, all right?"

"Well, okay then," Al said reluctantly. "Um, which way are you going?"

"That way, I guess," he replied, pointing. "And you can go the opposite way. But don't go too far," he added hastily, using his 'big brother' tone. "I want to be able to find you quickly if I have to."

They've split up a few times before, but this was a strange and foreign place and Ed, in his role as older brother, wanted to be careful. It made sense that they should go separate ways; that way, they could cover more area quickly and increase the chances of finding something. At the same time, though, he didn't like the idea of being too far from Al.

But it seemed to be a small and relatively harmless town, full of nice people and minor Heartless, which consoled Ed enough to proceed with the plan. The Nobodies rose in his mind, those white creatures they had seen in Sora's journal, but they hadn't come across any of them yet, so he didn't worry about it. Besides, Al was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Well, more or less.

"Okay," nodded Al. "See you in hour then?"

"Yup. Good luck. And be careful. And don't talk to strangers. And don't stray too far off, and watch where you're going. And make sure to–" Ed paused, finger held up in a lecturing manner and mouth hung open, and he remained in that pose for a second or two before his brain kicked in and registered that Al had already left him and that he was talking to the air.

Then, shoving his hands into his pockets and grumbling, he turned on his heel and walked the opposite way and the words "ungrateful little brat" could be heard if one was listening closely.

---------

He knew his brother meant well, but Al really didn't feel like listening to all of that, so he simply walked off and went on his way. Besides, what did he have to worry about anyway? He was a suit of armor, there wasn't much that could hurt him. He couldn't even feel physical pain, for that matter. As long as nothing touched the blood seal that kept his soul attached to the suit, he was practically invulnerable to anything that was thrown at him. And as far as the Heartless went, well, he wasn't entirely sure if they could take his heart or not, considering his current state. It wasn't like he couldn't fight them off by himself anyway.

The small, short street he had taken was also empty of people, leaving Al alone with his thoughts. He still wasn't sure how he felt about all of this. Excited, confused, happy, worried...his emotions seemed to be at war with each other. He found it nice to be away from their world and their troubles for once, kind of like they were on an unexpected vacation. Yet he was doubtful when it came to his brother's idea of finding a Philosopher's Stone here; it seemed so unlikely, and even if they did find something like it, it's not like they could use it. At least, not until they returned to their own world.

And how long would that take? As much as he liked being away, it was still awkward and overwhelming. After discovering that there are tons of different worlds at there besides his, it's not surprising that Al's already lose grip on reality was quite shaken.

Al stopped halfway down the street, bringing his thoughts to a crashing halt. He quickly whipped his head around, half-expecting to see Edward there behind him–but there was no one. He looked left and right, up and down, in all directions, but still, there was no one there.

He hadn't actually heard anyone following him, but he felt it. Or he thought did. But maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him again. All of these new discoveries and experiences were probably just overloading him a bit. Which was fine, as long as he got adapted to all of this soon, preferably before he lost _all _of his sanity...

----------

A little shiny object hit the ground with a 'clink'. Edward walked over and picked up, giving the shard a brief look-over then shoving it into the recess of his right pocket with a satisfied smirk. (The left one was already full.) A little brown-haired boy, who had just up until recently been under attack by a couple of Shadows, was staring at Ed in awe and admiration.

"Wow," the boy broke out excitedly, "That was awe-some! Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Back home," Ed replied, looking nonchalant (although inwardly, he was feeling quite pleased with himself). "I had a good teacher. Are you okay, kid?"

"Yeah, thanks!" he said brightly. "Man, I wish I could fight like you. Do you think I could meet your teacher and ask for lessons?"

All the blood instantly drained from Ed's face. He gripped the boy by his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, saying in slow, icy tones, "Don't you say that. Don't you ever say that again. Don't even _think _it! You're so young. Value your life, don't throw it away! Don't be a fool and make the same mistake I did! Do you understand me?"

"Y-y-yes, sir," the boy managed to stammer out, in shock by his rescuer's sudden outburst of fear at his simple question. What had his teacher done to him, the little boy wondered, to cause such a reaction?

"Good," said Ed, releasing the boy and returning to normal cool and collected self in a flash. (He had long ago figured out how to block out the painful and scary memories of his training days.) "Now, could you kindly direct me to the nearest–gah, what are they called again? Muggles?"

"Um, do you mean Moogles?" the boy suggested helpfully.

"Yeah, that's it. Moogles. This place got any of those?"

The little boy happily led Edward to the main part of town and pointed out the brightly decorated moogle shop in its center. The boy, careful not mention anything about fighting or teachers, thanked Ed again before leaving him to get on with his business.

Ed eyed the shop with distaste; it looked like a giant, gaudy birthday cake. What kind of self-respecting alchemist would willingly work in that thing? On second thought, what kind of self-respecting alchemist would call himself a _moogle? _Ed was fully aware that in another world, and that alchemist here could mean something entirely from the definition he applied to the term. But seriously; a _moogle_? Was that even a _word_?

He shrugged away his doubts and walked up to the shop. It appeared to be empty and he couldn't find a service bell anywhere to ring, so he leaned casually against the blue counter, waiting for the moogle-guy to come back from his lunch break or whatever it was that was keeping him.

Ed nearly had a heart attack when a small, white creature with wings and something sticking on its head suddenly materialized before him and squeaked, "Hiya, kupo! How can I help you?"

His jaw dropped to the floor. _Flying teddy bears_?

And just when he thought things couldn't get any weirder...

–**TBC–

* * *

**

**(Random Extra)(Battle of the Century)**

_**During a meeting, the members of the SEPOSEPWARP got into a heated debate about the strongest person in all the worlds...today, they've decided to find out who's right...**_

**Envy: **Okay, I got her!

**Lust:** Huh? Isn't that..?

**Envy**: That's right; Izumi-sensei! The Elric Brothers' respected/feared teacher!

**Izumi:** Get your hands off me, or I'll BREAK THEM OFF!

**Envy: **See what I mean? Isn't she great? Definitely better than the chump Axel was going on about...

**Axel: **Hahaha! That's what you think. -ahem- Allow me to introduce to you...the great and deadly CHUCK NORRIS!

**Chuck Norris:** Huh? What? Where the Hell am I?

**Envy: **Are you kidding me? Izumi-sensei can totally take this guy down.

**Izumi: **I'm not going to fight some stranger! But I _will _kill you, you twisted bast–

**Axel: **No, dude, look! Chuck Norris is _unbeatable._ Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door. Chuck Norris doesn't read books; he stares at them until he gets the info he wants. Chuck Norris sleeps with a pillow under his gun! Beating the snot outta her will easier than breathing for Chuck Norris! Right, Chuck?

**Chuck Norris:** I can't fight a girl.

**Axel: **Whaaaat? Why not?

**Izumi: **Maybe because he has a sense of honor, unlike you morons..?

**Chuck Norris: **No, that's not it. I'm just offended that they would have me kick the snot out of such a weak and fragile creature.

**Izumi: **-vein pops- Weak, huh? I'll show you who's weak!

**Chuck Norris: **Fine, if that's how you want to be! Prepare for the worst round-house kick in the face you've ever experienced!

**Axel & Envy: **Yay! Fight! Fight! Fight!

_Twenty seconds later..._

**Envy: **All right, pay up!

**Axel: **What? No, that doesn't count! My guy wasn't done fighting yet!

**Lust: **He was just rushed to the emergency room. I think that means he's done.

**Izumi: **Pfft. Stupid chauvinists. -dusts off hands- Okay, are you going to take me home now or do I need kick your ass too?

**Envy: **Eep! Don't hurt me! You can go! -runs away from certain doom-

**(Poor Chuck Norris...FIN!)**


	14. Filler Crap! Oh noes!

**A/N:** I just wanted everyone to know that, yes, I am still alive and still plan to continue writing the rest of this story. I haven't been updating lately due to the normal delayers (school, work, etc.) but also because of some personal issues that are currently going on. I'll try to have a real, actual chapter up sometime soon, but right now, I'm a little bushed. Also, there will most likely be NO new chapters up anytime during November since I will be spending any writing time solely on Nanowrimo. (For those of you who don't know what that is, go google it. I don't feel like explaining.) So, you have my apologies. I hate it when people never finish a story, so I'll try my best not to do so here. For now, you'll just hafta grit your teeth and bear through another stupid random short thingy, because that's all the time and patience to write right now.

Hoping no one chops off my head,

Zana

PS- Sorry, but I can't help to write about the Super Evil Party of Super Evil People, blah-blah-blah, again. I'm slightly fixated with the idea of Envy and Axel joining forces and making them do out-of-character things. Heh heh.

_

* * *

_

**(Random Extra!)(It's just a stupid filler! OMFG!)**

_At the SEPOSEPWARP HQ (located somewhere in Utah), the group of evil non-people are preparing to set in motion their next evil plot..._

**Envy**: Hey, Axel, I've been meaning to ask you...who is that girl you have tied up, gagged, and shoved in a corner?

**Axel**: Oh, that's just Kairi. I kidnapped her not too long ago. Eventually, I plan to use her as bait for the main character of my respective franchise, but I'm saving that for later.

**Kairi**: Mmffugglemmfg! -_glares_-

**Envy**: Wow. She looks pretty pissed. So, anyway, did ya get it? -_nonexistant attention span_-

**Axel**: You bet your mom I did!

**Envy**: _What?_

**Axel**: Uh, nevermind. -_whips out a sheet of paper and puts it on a table_- Look, here it is. The author's manuscript for this fanfic! Everything that Zana is planning to write is now in our hands! Muhahaha and stuff!

**Envy**: YES! Now we can change it to our liking, sneak it back, and the unspecting moron will write the story the way we want it to go! Wrath!

**Wrath**: What?

**Envy**: Bring me...a PEN! It's time for little Edward to die...

**Axel**: And I can turn Sora into a Heartless to get my best bud back, right?

**Envy**: Yeah, yeah, whatever.

**Wrath**: Here. -_throws a pen at his head_-

**Envy**: Muhahaha, etc, etc. -_begins writing_- Yes, this is the most perfect plan EVAR! I think I shall re-title this story as 'Fullmetal Homunculus', starring yours truly, and...hey who's this? A new villian?

**Axel**: Huh? Lemme see! -_reads_- Lord Voldemort? Is that French?

**Envy**: Beats me. Look, she's added someone else too. 'The Boy Who Lived'? What the heck _is_ _this_?

**Axel**: You know what? Forget it. Writers are weird. She's obviously trying to pull a new plot twist or something by adding new characters. Just keep writing.

**Envy**: Gotcha. -_scribblescriblescribble_-

_Later, after the evil deed had been done and the edited manuscript had been returned to Zana's house..._

**Zana**: -_reading-_ '...and Edward and his brother finally found the Sorcerer's Stone, but only to be defeated by Lord Envymort, who blasted their heads off...' -_growls_- All right, who messed up my book report?

**(FIN!)**


End file.
